JP2009200594A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable an image forming apparatus, constituted by connecting a plurality of image output devices together, to carry out printing by selecting a suitable image output device by taking various conditions into consideration according to states of the respective image output devices and the purpose of a print request. <P>SOLUTION: Digital multifunction machines A to D are connected by a communication line of the IEEE1394 standard. Each digital multifunction machine has a paper feeding means handling a plurality of paper types, and a fixing means for fixing an image formed on a fed form with heat of target temperature for the kind of the form. A digital multifunction machine A as a master machine once accepting a print request wherein a paper type is specified decides whether there is a digital multifunction machine whose fixing means is ready at target temperature for the paper type, and transfers print data to the digital multifunction machine when the digital multifunction machine is available. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus configured by connecting a plurality of image output apparatuses, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus capable of selecting an image output apparatus in accordance with the purpose of a print request.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a system (image forming apparatus) that connects image output apparatuses such as a plurality of digital multi-function peripherals and outputs an image (copy or print), an arbitrary one of the image output apparatuses is a master unit (master unit). The other image output device connected to the master device is set as a slave device (slave device).

In this system (image forming device), when the master receives an output request in order to reduce the influence of the failure that stops the operation of the device due to paper jam or out of paper, Checking the status and removing the faulty device from the output target.
For example, if the printer of a specific slave unit is in a paper jam state, image data can be transferred to another slave unit and printing can be taken over (see Patent Document 1).

In the above system, the slave unit is selected based on a PPM (Page Per Minutes) value representing the printing performance of the master unit in one minute to shorten the printing time.
However, when a device having a high PPM value is selected, there is a problem in that the selected device is biased, causing deterioration and fatigue of a specific device.
In addition, even if the device cannot operate immediately, such as in the energy saving mode, the slave unit is selected based on the printing performance. As a result, the printing time may be shortened if a device with lower performance is selected. obtain.

  In the above conventional system, image quality maintenance control is performed to correct image quality deterioration due to changes over time. This image quality maintenance control is performed by setting the number of times of image formation counted by a counter provided in the apparatus to a preset number of times. The printing operation is interrupted while the control is executed. However, the user cannot grasp the current number of times of image formation that is a reference for starting control, and the number of operations (reference value) at which control is started varies depending on the device, so the user knows when to interrupt. I can't.

  Therefore, when the above-described conventional system is used for the purpose of shortening the printing time, the image quality maintenance control is performed even if the master unit determines from the image output performance (PPM value) of each device and selects a device with a short printing time. Since it is not possible to select a device that can avoid the operation of the above, the output time is shortened when a device having a lower PPM value than the selected device is used.

  Therefore, in the above-mentioned system, the master unit detects the number of image formations of the slave unit counted by the provided counter, and the master unit grasps the prescribed number of image formations in which different image quality maintenance control is performed for each slave unit. The master unit predicts the possibility of image quality maintenance control during printing, and the master unit selects the slave unit that does not operate image quality maintenance control during printing, thereby improving the above problems and shortening the printing time. An achieved device is known (see Patent Document 2).

  However, in the image forming apparatus described in Patent Document 2, since an optimum fixing temperature (hereinafter, target temperature) for the paper type is not taken into consideration, if the fixing temperature of the apparatus is higher than the target temperature of the paper type, the toner The layer may be divided by overheating and ideal fixing may not be achieved. Therefore, there is a problem that the quality of the output image is deteriorated.

In addition, if another apparatus having a high PPM value is selected where the fixing temperature of the apparatus does not reach the target temperature, there is a problem that energy for temperature difference is required to heat the fixing apparatus.
JP 09-27876 A JP 2004-112643 A

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a status of each image output apparatus and an object of a print request in an image forming apparatus configured by connecting a plurality of image output apparatuses. In consideration of various conditions, an appropriate image output apparatus is selected and printing can be performed.

The present invention provides an image forming unit having a paper feeding unit having a plurality of paper types, a fixing unit for fixing an image formed on the fed paper by heat at a target temperature for the paper types, A plurality of image output devices having a means for detecting temperature and a communication means for communicating with an external device are connected using the communication means, and the received print processing request is processed within the own device, to the external device. An image forming apparatus that can be requested, and upon receiving a print request specifying a paper type, means for determining whether there is an image output apparatus waiting at a target temperature for the paper type, and a determination result And a selection unit that selects an image output device that executes printing, and the selection unit selects an image output device that meets the target temperature requirement, if any.
In addition, when there is no image output device corresponding to the target temperature requirement, the image output device closest to the target temperature for the designated paper type is selected as the standby temperature of the fixing unit.
Further, when there are a plurality of image output devices corresponding to the target temperature requirement, the device having the longest remaining life is selected among them.
In addition, when there is an image output device that satisfies the target temperature requirement and there is a device that has a longer remaining life than the corresponding image output device among the non-applicable image output devices, the remaining is based on the print amount of the print request. A device having the longest life or a device having a temperature when the fixing unit is waiting is closest to a target temperature is selected.
In addition, when there is no image output device corresponding to the target temperature requirement, an image output device that reaches the target temperature for the designated paper type earliest is selected.
In addition, if there is an image output device that is controlled to reach the target temperature for the specified paper type, and that device is in a state where it cannot be immediately activated, such as in an energy-saving mode, An image output device is selected.

  According to the present invention, since the master unit of the image forming apparatus that has received the print request selects an appropriate apparatus according to the state of the image output apparatus that is the slave unit and the purpose of the print request, the print image quality is improved. Can be maintained, the deterioration of the apparatus can be suppressed, and the printing time can be shortened.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a digital multi-function peripheral that is an image output apparatus that constitutes an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  This digital multi-function peripheral is a printer controller 1 that converts a transferred image and sends it to a memory unit as an image signal, a memory unit 2 that stores the image signal and sends a signal to the plotter unit 5, and a display / operation for various settings by the user A control unit 4 that controls the operation of the printer with software written in a ROM; and a plotter unit 5 that operates in an electrophotographic manner.

  Reflected light from the document irradiated by the exposure lamp in an image reading unit (not shown) is photoelectrically converted by a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) image sensor. A document image signal output from the CCD image sensor is converted into a digital signal by an A / D converter, and then subjected to color correction and the like, and transferred to the controller unit 1. In the controller unit 1, image data is compressed and decompressed, and a scaling process is performed as necessary. After this processing, the image data is transferred to the memory unit 2. After the image data is recorded in the memory unit 2, it is transferred to the plotter unit 5. Then, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 8 charged by the charging roller 7 with the image data sent from the memory unit 2 by the laser light of the optical unit 6. The electrostatic latent image is developed with toner attached thereto, and the toner image is transferred onto a transfer sheet transferred from the paper feeding means 9. The transfer paper is fixed at a predetermined fixing temperature by a fixing unit 11 that performs temperature control based on information from the fixing temperature sensor 10. The ambient temperature sensor 12 can detect the ambient temperature and the like.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a control unit of the digital multi-function peripheral.
This machine has a configuration in which a controller 13, an engine unit 14, and an IEEE 1394 interface (hereinafter, “interface” is referred to as “I / F”) 15 are connected via a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus 16. Yes.

  The controller 13 controls the entire digital multi-function peripheral including drawing, communication, and input control from the operation unit 3, and corresponds to a combination of the controller 1, the memory 2, and the control unit 4 of FIG. The controller 13 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 17, a north bridge 18 (hereinafter abbreviated as “NB”), a MEM-P (drawing memory) 19, a south bridge (hereinafter abbreviated as “SB”) 20, MEM-C (scanner memory) 21, controller ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) 22, hard disk device (hereinafter abbreviated as “HDD”) 23, NB 18 and controller ASIC 22 They are connected via an AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) bus. In addition, the NB 18 and the SB 20 are connected via the PCI bus 16. A network I / F is connected to the PCI bus 16.

The CPU 17 is a microprocessor that comprehensively controls the entire controller 13 and is connected to a program ROM, a RAM, a nonvolatile memory, and the like (not shown).
The NB 18 is a bridge for connecting the CPU 17 to the drawing memory 19, the SB 20, and the AGP bus.
The drawing memory 19 is a plotter memory used for developing image data to be transferred to the plotter of the engine unit 14 during a printing operation.
The SB 20 is a bridge for connecting the NB 18 to a PCI device and peripheral devices (not shown).
The scanner memory 21 is a scanner memory for temporarily storing (storing) image data read by the scanner of the engine unit 14 during a scanning operation (reading operation) or a copying operation (copying operation).

  The controller ASIC 22 is an image processing IC having image processing hardware elements including an editor and a compression / decompression unit, and is a bridge for connecting the AGP bus, the PCI bus 16, the HDD 23, and the scanner memory 21. It also has a role.

  The HDD 23 is a storage device for storing (storing) various data such as a large amount of image data, print history data, and various programs including a program according to the present invention. Instead of the HDD 23, another mass storage device such as an optical disk can be used.

  The AGP bus is a bus interface for a graphics accelerator card proposed for speeding up graphics processing. The AGP bus speeds up the graphics accelerator card by directly accessing the drawing memory 17 with high throughput. . This AGP bus is used for more efficient exchange of data between the NB 18 and the controller ASIC 22.

  The engine unit 14 includes an engine ASIC including a PCI unit and an image processing unit that performs image processing such as error diffusion and gamma conversion, in addition to a scanner and a so-called engine unit such as a plotter.

  The IEEE 1394 I / F 15 is a connection mode (communication with each multifunction device) in a state where other digital multifunction devices are connected through a communication line (hereinafter also simply referred to as “communication line”) of the IEEE 1394 standard, which is a general-purpose communication line. Communication state (communication of data) with other digital multi-function peripherals via a communication line.

  The network I / F is a communication unit that communicates with a host (external device) such as a personal computer on a LAN (Local Area Network) (not shown), and image data (character code for generating image data, It also functions as an image input means for inputting a control code).

  Here, the CPU 17 operates according to the program according to the present invention stored in the HDD 23 (storage medium), so that the functions of the digital multi-function peripheral, that is, transfer control means, image formation information acquisition means, performance information acquisition means, Status information acquisition means, image formation required time calculation means, expected time calculation means, image formation means selection means, transfer control means selection means, failure detection means, count means, selection operation selection means, fixing roller temperature detection means, operation frequency A function as a detection unit or the like of a low device can be realized.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image output apparatus connection system (image forming apparatus) in which a plurality of the above-described digital multifunction peripherals (image output apparatuses) are connected.
For example, four digital multifunction peripherals A to D are connected by a communication line of the IEEE 1394 standard that enables high-speed transfer of image data. Since the communication line has a limited cable length, if the distance between each of the digital multi-function peripherals A to D is long, a repeater that reproduces and relays signals is inserted between them and extended. Connect.

  When setting of the connection mode is instructed by a key operation on the display / operation unit 3 of any one of the digital multifunction peripherals A to D, the CPU of the digital multifunction peripheral is connected. In addition to setting the mode, the own device is set as a master device (master device), and the other digital multifunction device is set as a slave device (slave device).

  When the master unit is equipped with an automatic document feeder (Auto Document Feeder: hereinafter referred to as “ADF”) that is not shown in FIG. 1, the document stack is placed on the ADF document table of the master unit (master unit). Thus, the ADF automatically feeds each document on the document table, causes the scanner to sequentially read the image of each document, and automatically reads the image data via the engine ASIC, the PCI bus 16, and the controller ASIC 22. After being stored in the scanner memory 21 or the HDD 23 of the machine, the image data of each document is repeatedly read by the set number of copies, and is transferred to the plotter of the machine via the controller ASIC 22, the PCI bus, and the engine ASIC. The data can be transferred sequentially for output.

  Alternatively, after storing the image data of each original in the scanner memory 21 or the HDD 23 of the own machine, the image data of each original is repeatedly read for the set number of copies, and the slave machine (slave machine) is sequentially read by the IEEE 1394 I / F 15 of the own machine. It can be transferred to a plotter for printing.

  Also, after the image data of each document is recorded in its own scanner memory 21 or HDD 23, the number of copies (number of copies) to each slave unit (digital multifunction peripheral) is equally distributed, and the number of sorts is instructed to the slave unit. Subsequently, the image data of each original stored in the scanner memory 21 or the HDD 23 of the own machine is repeatedly read out in order for the number of sheets to be sorted, and the own machine via the controller ASIC 22, the PCI bus 16, and the engine ASIC. In parallel, the control for sequentially transferring to the plotter of the printer and printing is performed, and the control for causing the image data of the read document to be sequentially transferred to the plotter of the slave machine by the IEEE1394 I / F15 of the own machine to perform printing. You can also.

  A plurality of types of transfer paper can be stored in the paper feeding means 9 of each slave unit, and information indicating the paper type is stored in a memory (RAM or the like) in the controller 13. In the master unit and each slave unit, an image can be formed on transfer paper of any paper type selected by the user using the display / operation unit 3 from among a plurality of paper types. At this time, the temperature of the fixing unit 11 is controlled to become a target temperature for the paper type, and the temperature is detected by the fixing temperature sensor 10 and notified to the CPU 17.

  The charging roller 7 and the photosensitive drum 8 provided in the plotter unit 5 of each slave unit constitute an image forming unit. Since this imaging unit has a shorter life than other parts, it is configured to be replaceable. When a new one is installed, the CPU 17 clears a life counter (not shown) made of a nonvolatile memory and counts up each time an image is formed, and the count value is a preset value (number or time). Is reached, the message is displayed on the display / operation unit 3 to determine that the service life is reached and to prompt replacement.

  Each slave unit shifts to the energy saving mode when, for example, there is no input operation for a certain period of time from the display / operation unit 3, or when there is no data input for a certain period of time from the network I / F or IEEE1394 I / F15.

  In the following, an embodiment of processing until printing is executed in the slave unit when the master unit of the system as shown in FIG. 3 receives a print request (print job) specifying the paper type will be described. .

(First embodiment)
FIG. 4 is a flowchart of this embodiment.
First, the master unit corresponds to the target temperature requirement for the designated paper type, that is, the slave unit whose fixing unit 11 is waiting at the target temperature for the paper type designated in the print job (ready state), Is determined (S101). At this time, the master unit inquires of the CPU 17 of the controller 13 of each slave unit through the IEEE 1394 I / F 15 and makes a determination based on the response. Instead of inquiring of the slave unit when the master unit receives a print request, the master unit may periodically inquire or the slave unit may report spontaneously.

  When there is a slave unit corresponding to the target temperature requirement (S101: Yes), printing is started from the slave unit (S105). When there is no slave unit that satisfies the target temperature requirement (S101: No), it is determined whether or not there is only one slave unit waiting at the fixing temperature closest to the target temperature (S102).

  When there is only one slave unit waiting at the fixing temperature closest to the target temperature (S102: Yes), the slave unit is selected and printing is performed (S106). If there are two or more slave units waiting at the fixing temperature closest to the target temperature (S102: No), whether or not the fixing temperatures are the same deviation up and down from the target temperature. A determination is made (S103).

  When the requirements of S103 are satisfied (S103: Yes), (i) print with a high temperature device, (ii) print with a low temperature device, (iii) arbitrarily select a high or low temperature device One of selection and printing is executed (S104). Here, which of (i) to (iii) is to be executed is set in advance as a master unit by the user. When the requirement of S103 is not satisfied (S103: No), other processing, for example, a message for causing the user to select is displayed on the display / operation unit 3.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, according to the paper type information of the requested print job, the paper type and the target temperature condition of the fixing unit 11 of the slave unit match among the slave units in the system. By selecting a slave that can be printed immediately and executing printing (S101: Yes → S105), the printing operation can be performed efficiently.

  Further, even if the paper type and the target temperature condition of the fixing unit 11 of the slave unit do not match, by selecting the slave unit that can print in the shortest time from the slave units in the system, printing is performed (S102). : Yes → S106), the printing operation can be performed efficiently.

  Further, even if the paper type and the target temperature condition of the fixing unit 11 of the slave unit do not match, the slave unit in the system that does not need to be increased to the target temperature, that is, does not generate energy loss. By selecting a slave that can be printed on and executing printing (S104 (i)), the printing operation can be performed efficiently.

  Further, even if the target temperature condition of the apparatus of the fixing unit 11 of the slave unit does not match the paper type, a hot offset that occurs when the fixing temperature of the apparatus is high is not generated from the slave units in the system. By selecting a printable slave and executing printing (S104 (ii)), the printing operation can be performed efficiently.

  Further, even if the target temperature condition of the paper type and the fixing unit 11 of the slave unit does not match, a device having a higher fixing temperature or a lower fixing temperature than the target temperature is selected from the slave units in the system. Printing can be performed efficiently by selecting a slave unit that can be printed without causing a hot offset or energy loss (S104 (iii)).

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 5 is a flowchart of this embodiment.
First, the master unit waits at a target temperature for the paper type specified in the print job, that is, the slave unit corresponding to the target temperature requirement for the paper type specified in the print job, that is, its fixing unit 11 (ready state). It is determined whether or not there is a slave (S201).
When there is a slave unit corresponding to the target temperature requirement (S201: Yes), it is determined whether there are a plurality of corresponding slave units (S203).

  When there are a plurality of corresponding slave units (S203: Yes), the slave unit with the longest remaining machine life (for example, the remaining life of the image forming unit of the plotter unit 5) is selected from the plurality of slave units. Printing is performed (S204). When the requirement of S203 is not satisfied (S203: No), that is, when only one slave unit is waiting at the target temperature for the paper type, the slave unit having a longer remaining life than the slave unit meets the target temperature requirement. It is determined whether or not it exists in the slave unit that does not (S205).

  When the requirement of S205 is satisfied (S205: Yes), the only slave unit waiting at the target temperature or the slave unit with a long remaining life that has not reached the target temperature is selected (S207). Which one to select may be set in advance in the master unit, or may be determined based on the print amount of the requested print job. At this time, if a handset with a long remaining life is selected, the handset with the longest remaining life executes printing (S204). When the requirement of S205 is not satisfied (S205: No), the slave unit waiting at the target temperature is selected and printing is performed (S206).

  When there is no slave unit waiting at the target temperature (S201: No), the slave unit with the longest remaining life is selected or the slave unit closest to the target temperature is selected (S202). Which one to select is set in advance in the master unit. If the remaining life is selected, the process proceeds to S204. If the fixing temperature is selected, the process proceeds to A in FIG.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, according to the paper type information of the requested print job, the slave device that can be immediately printed at the target temperature is selected from the plurality of slave devices, In the case where there are a plurality of such devices, it is possible to perform printing more efficiently by selecting the slave unit with the longest remaining life from among them and executing printing (S203: Yes → S204).

  Further, even if the paper type and the target temperature requirement of the fixing unit 11 do not match, by selecting the slave unit having the longest remaining life from the plurality of slave units and executing printing (S202: select lifetime) → S204), the printing operation can be performed efficiently.

  Furthermore, even if there is no slave unit that meets the target temperature requirement, when the remaining life is short, it is possible to select and print the slave unit with the longest remaining life from among other slave units. (S205: Yes.fwdarw.S207.fwdarw.S204) It is possible to prevent only a specific slave unit from being consumed and to perform a printing operation efficiently.

  In addition, even if there is a slave unit that meets the target temperature requirement, if the remaining life is short, it is possible to make a decision to select and print the slave unit with the longest remaining life from among other slave units. For this reason (S205 → 207), it is possible to determine whether to shorten the printing time or to prevent the consumption of the specific slave unit depending on the situation, thereby enabling more efficient printing.

  In addition, even if there is no slave unit that meets the target temperature requirement, it is possible to determine whether to select the slave unit that can be printed in the shortest time or to use the slave unit with the longest remaining life. (S202) It is possible to determine whether to shorten the printing time or to prevent the specific slave unit from being consumed depending on the situation, and to perform printing efficiently.

  In addition, if the handset that meets the target temperature requirement has a short remaining life and there are other handset that have a long remaining life among other handset, determine which one to select from the requested print job amount. (S205 → S207), the printing operation can be performed efficiently.

  Also, if the slave unit that matches the temperature condition has a short remaining life and there is a slave unit that has a long remaining life among other slave units, it determines which one to select from the requested print job amount. In addition, by changing the determination criteria (S205 → S207), the printing operation can be performed efficiently.

(Third embodiment)
FIG. 6 is a flowchart of this embodiment.
First, the master unit is controlled so as to reach the target temperature for the paper type specified in the print job, that is, the standby temperature of the fixing unit 11 is the target temperature for the paper type specified in the print job. It is determined whether or not there is a slave unit controlled to become (S301).

  When there is a slave unit that meets the requirements of S301 (S301: Yes), it is determined whether the slave unit is in a sleep state such as an energy saving mode (S302). If it is in the dormant state (S302: Yes), printing is performed with a slave device that does not meet the requirements of S301 but can be printed immediately (ready state) (S305). On the other hand, if it is not in the resting state (S302: No), printing is performed with the slave (S304).

  Further, when there is no slave unit that meets the requirements of S301 (S301: No), the waiting time until the start of printing (ready state) is the shortest (the waiting time is not necessarily short when the temperature is close). Printing is performed by the slave unit (S303).

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to select a slave device that can be printed in the shortest time and execute an operation even if there is no slave device that is controlled to reach the target temperature ( S301: No → S303).

  Also, even if there is a slave unit that is controlled to reach the target temperature, if the slave unit has already entered the energy saving mode and cannot be printed immediately, it will be in a standby state (ready state) from among other slave units. ) Is selected (S302: Yes → S305), the printing time can be shortened and the printing operation can be performed efficiently.

1 is a block diagram of a digital multi-function peripheral that constitutes an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a control unit of the digital multifunction peripheral of FIG. 1. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image output device connection system in which a plurality of digital multifunction peripherals are connected. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a first embodiment of a process until printing is executed in a slave unit when a master unit of the image output apparatus connection system receives a print request specifying a paper type. FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a second embodiment of processing until printing is executed in a slave unit when the master unit of the image output apparatus connection system receives a print request specifying a paper type. FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a third embodiment of processing until printing is executed in a slave unit when the master unit of the image output apparatus connection system receives a print request specifying a paper type.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printer controller, 2 ... Memory part, 3 ... Display / operation part, 4 ... Control part, 5 ... Plotter part, 6 ... Optical unit, 7 ... Charging roller 8 ... photosensitive drum, 9 ... feeding means, 10 ... fixing temperature sensor, 11 ... fixing unit, 13 ... controller, 14 ... engine unit, 15 ... IEEE 1394 I / F, 17 ... CPU, 23 ... HDD.

Claims (14)

Paper feeding means comprising a plurality of paper types;
Image forming means having fixing means for fixing an image formed on the fed paper by heat at a target temperature for the paper type;
Means for detecting the temperature of the fixing means;
A plurality of image output devices each having a communication means that communicates with an external device are connected using the communication means, and an image that can be requested to the external device in addition to processing the received print processing request within the self device. A forming device,
When a print request specifying a paper type is received, means for determining the presence or absence of an image output device waiting at a target temperature for the paper type, and an image output device that performs printing are selected based on the determination result An image forming apparatus comprising: a selecting unit that selects an image output device corresponding to the target temperature requirement, if any. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
The selection unit selects an image output device that has a temperature when the fixing unit is in a standby state closest to a target temperature for a specified paper type when there is no image output device that meets the target temperature requirement. Image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2,
The selection unit selects the image output device having the higher temperature when there are a plurality of image output devices that use the same deviation temperature above and below the target temperature for the designated paper type as the standby temperature of the fixing unit. An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2,
The selection unit selects the image output device having the lower temperature when there are a plurality of image output devices that use the same deviation temperature above and below the target temperature for the designated paper type as the standby temperature of the fixing unit. An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2,
In the case where there are a plurality of image output devices in which the temperature of the same deviation above and below the target temperature with respect to the specified paper type is the standby temperature of the fixing unit, the selection unit has a higher or lower temperature. Can be arbitrarily selected. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
Means for detecting the remaining life of each image output device, and when there are a plurality of image output devices corresponding to the target temperature requirement, the selecting means selects the device having the longest remaining life among them. An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
Means for detecting the remaining life of each image output device, and when there is no image output device corresponding to the target temperature requirement, the selection means selects a device having the longest remaining life among non-applicable image output devices An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
Means for detecting the remaining life of each image output device, wherein the selecting means includes an image output device that meets the target temperature requirement, and among the image output devices that are not applicable, the remaining life from the corresponding image output device; An image forming apparatus characterized by selecting a device having a long remaining life when there is a long device. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
Means for detecting the remaining life of each image output device, wherein the selecting means includes an image output device that meets the target temperature requirement, and among the image output devices that are not applicable, the remaining life from the corresponding image output device; An image forming apparatus characterized in that when there is a long apparatus, these can be arbitrarily selected. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
Means for detecting the remaining life of each image output device, and the selecting means has the longest remaining life when there is no image output device that meets the target temperature requirement and the remaining lifespan of the plurality of image output devices that do not correspond is different. An image forming apparatus characterized in that the apparatus or the apparatus in which the temperature during standby of the fixing unit is closest to the target temperature can be arbitrarily selected. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
Means for detecting the remaining life of each image output device, wherein the selecting means includes an image output device that meets the target temperature requirement, and among the image output devices that are not applicable, the remaining life from the corresponding image output device; An image forming apparatus characterized in that, when there is an apparatus having a long time, an apparatus having the longest remaining life or an apparatus having a standby temperature of the fixing unit closest to a target temperature is selected based on a print amount of a print request. The image forming apparatus according to claim 11.
An image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a print amount serving as a reference for the selection can be variably set. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when there is no image output device that meets the target temperature requirement, the selection unit selects an image output device that reaches the target temperature for the specified paper type earliest. A paper feed unit having a plurality of paper types, an image forming unit having a fixing unit for fixing an image formed on the fed paper by heat at a target temperature for the paper type, and detecting the temperature of the fixing unit. A plurality of image output apparatuses each having a communication means that communicates with an external device using the communication means, and the received print processing request is processed within the own device, and the external device is requested. A possible image forming apparatus,
When a print request specifying a paper type is received, means for determining the presence or absence of an image output device controlled to reach a target temperature for the paper type, and each image output device is immediately operated in an energy saving mode or the like And a selection unit that selects an image output device that executes printing based on the determination result, and the selection unit includes an image output device that meets the target temperature requirement. And an image forming apparatus that selects another image output device when the other image output device is immediately operable.

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