JP2010066884A - Printing display device, printing display system and printing display control program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately perform processing for making a state of printing when printing image data on a print medium be displayed on a display device prior to the printing in accordance with the actual printing. <P>SOLUTION: An acquisition part 81 acquires menu setting information 82 and paper storage setting information 83 of an image forming apparatus 1. A paper storage selection sequence part 84 selects a paper storage supplying a paper sheet used for the printing from paper storages by a prescribed procedure. A paper storage selection sequence part 85 selects one paper storage by the same procedure as the paper storage selection sequence part 84. A preview display part 86 executes preview display when performing the printing by the image data requested by a user based on the menu setting information 83 acquired in the acquisition part 81, information of the paper storage setting information 83, and information about which of the paper storages 1-3 is the paper storage selected in the paper storage selection sequence part 85. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a print display device, a print display system, and a print display control program.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-228561 discloses a technique for performing preview by matching printer driver settings with printer body settings.
JP 2006-202112 A

  A printer driver that controls the image forming apparatus generally has a preview function. The preview function is a function for displaying on a display a print mode when printing is performed on a sheet based on the image data before printing with image data, and confirming a print result before printing.

  However, when the printer main body is provided with a plurality of paper storage portions for storing paper to be supplied for printing, and the printer main body performs a sequence for selecting one to be used from the plurality of paper storage portions when a print request is made. If the preview is not executed in consideration of such a sequence, it is not possible to know what paper is actually used for printing, and there is a problem that an accurate preview cannot be performed.

  An object of the present invention is to accurately perform a process of displaying a printing mode on a display device when image data is printed on a printing medium prior to printing in accordance with actual printing.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information acquisition unit that acquires information on a situation of the image forming apparatus from an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a print medium, and the image forming apparatus is configured based on the information on the situation. In the procedure of selecting one of the print media contained in the plurality of print media contained in the plurality of print media as the one used for image formation, the displacement of the plurality of print media is determined. The target image data is printed based on the storage unit selection unit to be selected, the status information acquired by the information acquisition unit, and the type of print medium stored in the storage unit selected by the storage unit selection unit. And a display unit that displays a printing mode when printing on a medium on a display device.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the print display device according to the first aspect, when the information acquisition unit requests display of the aspect, the information on the status of the image forming device is received from the image forming device. To get.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a print medium, and a print display device connected to the image forming apparatus via a communication unit. Information acquisition means for acquiring information on the status of the forming apparatus, and any one of the print media stored in a plurality of storage units in which the image forming apparatus stores the print medium based on the information on the status A storage unit selection unit that selects a shift among the plurality of storage units in a procedure of selecting the storage unit to be used for image formation; a situation information acquired by the information acquisition unit; and the storage unit selection Display means for displaying, on the display device, a printing mode when the target image data is printed on the print medium, based on the type of the print medium stored in the storage unit selected by the means. , A printed display system.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the print display system according to the third aspect, when the information acquisition unit is requested to display the print mode, the image forming apparatus checks the status of the image forming apparatus. Get information.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided information acquisition means for acquiring information on a status of the image forming apparatus from an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a print medium, and the image forming apparatus is configured to acquire the information based on the status information. In the procedure of selecting one of the print media contained in the plurality of print media contained in the plurality of print media as the one used for image formation, the displacement of the plurality of print media is determined. The target image data is printed based on the storage unit selection unit to be selected, the status information acquired by the information acquisition unit, and the type of print medium stored in the storage unit selected by the storage unit selection unit. A computer-readable print display control program for causing a computer to execute display means for displaying on a display device a printing mode when printing on a medium.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the print display control program according to the fifth aspect, when the information acquisition unit is requested to display the print mode, the status of the image forming apparatus is displayed from the image forming apparatus. Get information about.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the process of displaying the printing mode on the display device when the image data is printed on the printing medium is more accurately matched to the actual printing as compared with the case where this configuration is not provided. Do.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided, such display processing is made to match the situation of the image forming apparatus and is accurately performed in accordance with actual printing.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, compared to the case where the present configuration is not provided, the process of displaying the printing mode when the image data is printed on the printing medium on the display device is accurately matched to the actual printing. Do.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, compared with the case where this configuration is not provided, such display processing is performed in accordance with the situation of the image forming apparatus and accurately in accordance with actual printing.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the process of displaying the printing mode on the display device when the image data is printed on the printing medium is more accurately matched to the actual printing as compared with the case where this configuration is not provided. Do.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided, such display processing is performed in accordance with the situation of the image forming apparatus and accurately in accordance with actual printing.

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

  FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  This image forming system implements a print display system. An image forming apparatus 1 that forms an image on a sheet as a print medium, a personal computer (PC) 3, and a scanner 4 have communication means such as a LAN 2. Connected through.

  FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The image forming apparatus 1 is an electrophotographic image forming apparatus capable of forming a color image by a so-called tandem method.

  The image forming apparatus 1 includes an image forming process unit 10 serving as an image forming device that forms a toner image on a printing medium such as paper by an electrophotographic method, and a control unit 50 that controls the overall operation of the image forming apparatus 1. I have. Further, an image processing unit 51 that performs image processing on image data of a print job received from the image reading device 4 or the like, and an external storage unit 52 that is realized by a hard disk device (Hard Disk Drive), for example, are provided.

  The image forming process unit 10 includes four image forming units 11Y, 11M, 11C, and 11K (hereinafter, also simply referred to as “image forming unit 11”) arranged in parallel at regular intervals. . The image forming units 11Y, 11M, 11C, and 11K respectively form yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) toner images.

  Since the basic configurations of the image forming units 11Y, 11M, 11C, and 11K are the same, the image forming unit 11K will be described as a representative here. The image forming unit 11K includes a photosensitive drum 12 on which an electrostatic latent image is formed while rotating in the direction of arrow A, a charging roller 13 that uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 12 with a certain potential, and a charging roller 13 And an exposure device 14 that exposes the photosensitive drum 12 charged in accordance with the image data based on the image data. Further, the image forming unit 11K includes a developing device 15 that develops the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 12, and a drum cleaner 16 that cleans the surface of the photosensitive drum 12. Each of the four image forming units 11Y, 11M, 11C, and 11K is configured in substantially the same manner except for the toner stored in the developing unit 15, and each of the image forming units 11 is yellow (Y) and magenta (M). , Cyan (C) and black (K) toner images are formed.

  Further, the image forming process unit 10 intermediates the intermediate transfer belt 20 onto which the respective color toner images formed on the respective photosensitive drums 12 of the respective image forming units 11 are transferred, and the respective color toner images of the respective image forming units 11. Primary transfer rollers 21Y, 21M, 21C, and 21K (hereinafter simply referred to as “primary transfer roller 21”) that sequentially transfer (primary transfer) to the transfer belt 20 are provided. The yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) toner images formed by the image forming units 11 are sequentially superimposed on the intermediate transfer belt 20 by the primary transfer rollers 21. Transcribed. The image forming process unit 10 is secondary-transferred with a secondary transfer roller 26 that collectively transfers (secondary transfer) the superimposed toner image transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 20 onto the paper P at the secondary transfer unit T. And a fixing device 30 for fixing the image on the paper P.

  Such an intermediate transfer belt 20 includes a driving roller 24 that rotationally drives the intermediate transfer belt 20, a backup roller 25 provided at a position opposite to the secondary transfer roller 26, and a tension roller 27 that applies tension to the intermediate transfer belt 20. Are stretched by the stretching roller 28 and the primary transfer rollers 21Y, 21M, 21C, 21K, etc., and circulate in the direction of arrow B.

  In the image forming apparatus 1, the image forming process unit 10 performs a series of image forming operations under the control of the control unit 50. That is, when forming a color image, the image data of the print job input from the PC 3 or the image reading device 4 is subjected to image processing by the image processing unit 51, and the image data for each color is sent to each exposure device 14. Sent. For example, in the black (K) image forming unit 11K, the surface of the photosensitive drum 12 uniformly charged at a certain potential by the charging roller 13 is applied to the K color image data from the image processing unit 51 by the exposure device 14. And an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 12. The formed electrostatic latent image is developed with toner by the developing device 15, and a black (K) toner image is formed on the photosensitive drum 12. Similarly, in the image forming units 11Y, 11M, and 11C, yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C) toner images are formed. When a monochrome image is formed, a black (K) toner image is formed only by the black (K) image forming unit 11K.

  The image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes transport paths R1, R2, R3, R4, and R5 as a paper transport system. The transport path R1 is a transport path for transporting the paper P from the paper storage units 40A, 40B, and 40C to the secondary transfer unit T and the fixing device 30, and the transport path R2 is a paper transported by the transport path R1. This is a conveyance path for discharging P from the paper discharge unit Q. The transport path R3 is a transport path for discharging the paper P transported by the transport path R1 from the paper discharge unit W.

  The conveyance path R4 is a conveyance path used in the case of duplex printing, and is a conveyance path for conveying the paper P reversed in the conveyance path 3 to the conveyance path R1 again. That is, when the paper P is transported from the transport path R4 to the transport path R1, an image is formed on the back surface of the paper P by passing through the secondary transfer portion T and the fixing device 30.

  The transport path R5 is a transport path for transporting the paper P from the manual paper storage unit 56 to the secondary transfer unit T. Further, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a switching unit (switching mechanism, sheet transport direction switching device) 60 that switches the sheet transported on the transport path R1 to the other transport paths R2, R3, and R4. .

  Each color toner image formed by each image forming unit 11 is applied with a primary transfer bias voltage from a power supply 61 as a high voltage primary transfer power source on the intermediate transfer belt 20 that circulates and moves in the direction of arrow B. Each primary transfer roller 21 sequentially performs electrostatic transfer, and a superimposed toner image in which toner images of respective colors are superimposed is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 2O. The superimposed toner image is conveyed toward the secondary transfer portion T where the secondary transfer roller 26 and the backup roller 25 are arranged as the intermediate transfer belt 20 moves.

  On the other hand, in the image forming apparatus 1, a plurality of sheets P1, P2, and P3 (collectively referred to as “sheet P”) of different sizes or different types are accommodated in the sheet accommodating portions 40A, 40B, and 40C, respectively. For example, when the paper P1 is designated by the control unit 50, the paper P1 is taken out from the paper storage unit 40A by the pickup roller 41, and the paper P1 is transported to the position of the registration roller 43 by the transport roller 42. The same applies to the case where the sheets P2 and P3 are designated by the control unit 50, which is transported to the image forming process unit 10 after the skew generated in the transporting process is corrected. In the present embodiment, only the paper storage units 40A, 40B, and 40C are illustrated, but a configuration in which a larger number of paper storage units is provided may be used.

  The paper P is fed out from the registration roller 43 in accordance with the timing when each color toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 20 is conveyed to the secondary transfer portion T, and the voltage is supplied from the power supply device 61 as a high voltage secondary transfer power source. Is applied to the secondary transfer portion T. Each color toner image is electrostatically transferred (secondary transfer) onto the paper P at once by the action of the transfer electric field formed by the secondary transfer roller 26 and the backup roller 25.

  Thereafter, the sheet P on which the superimposed toner image is electrostatically transferred is peeled off from the intermediate transfer belt 20 and conveyed to the fixing device 30. The unfixed toner image on the paper P conveyed to the fixing device 30 is fixed on the paper P by being subjected to fixing processing by heating and pressing by the fixing device 30. Then, the sheet P on which the image is formed is transported from the transport path R1 to the transport path R2, and is discharged from the sheet discharge portion Q of the image forming apparatus 1 by the post-fixing transport roller 44 and the unloading roller 45, thereby forming an image. It is transported to a post-processing device or the like (not shown) connected to the device 1.

  On the other hand, the toner (transfer residual toner) adhering to the intermediate transfer belt 20 after the secondary transfer is removed by the belt cleaner 23 disposed in contact with the intermediate transfer belt 20 to prepare for the next image forming cycle. In this manner, image formation in the image forming apparatus 1 is repeatedly executed for the designated number of sheets.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram of electrical connection of the control unit 50.

  The control unit 50 performs various calculations and connects a CPU 61 that centrally controls each unit, an image formation control program 62 executed by the CPU 61 and a ROM 63 that stores various fixed data, and a RAM 64 that is a work area of the CPU 61. Has been. Connected to the control unit 50 are a communication interface (I / F) 65 that communicates with the image forming process unit 10, the image processing unit 51, the external storage unit 52, and the like, and an operation panel 66 on which a user performs various operations. Has been.

  The image forming process unit 10 is described as an example in which an image is formed by an electrophotographic method, but the present invention is not limited to this, and an ink jet method, a silver salt photographic method, a thermal recording method, a thermal transfer method. The present invention can be applied to an image forming apparatus that performs printing by various means.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram of electrical connection of the PC 3.

  The PC 3 implements a print display device, and stores various programs executed by the CPU 71 including a control program 73 and a RAM 72 serving as a work area of the CPU 71 and fixed data in a CPU 71 that centrally controls each unit. A magnetic storage device 74, a communication interface (I / F) 75 that communicates with the image forming apparatus 1, an input device 76 such as a mouse and a keyboard, and a display device 77 such as an LCD are connected. The control program 73 is a driver for controlling the image forming apparatus 1.

  The control program 73 may be downloaded from the Internet in the form of a carrier wave and set up in the magnetic storage device 74. Alternatively, the control program 73 may be stored in a CD drive from a storage medium such as a CD, DVD, or MO that stores the control program 73. Alternatively, the magnetic storage device 74 may be set up by reading with a reading device such as a DVD drive.

  The control program 73 has a preview function. That is, before printing with image data, it is possible to display on the display device 77 the printing mode when printing based on the image data on a sheet as a printing medium, and to confirm the printing result before printing.

  Details of the preview function will be described below.

  FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram for explaining the preview function.

  The acquisition unit 81 of the PC 3 based on the control program 73 acquires menu setting information 82 and sheet storage unit setting information 83 (details will be described later) provided in the image forming apparatus 1.

  The paper storage unit selection sequence unit 84 of the image forming apparatus 1 is a paper storage unit that supplies paper used for printing among the paper storage units 40A, 40B, and 40C (hereinafter also referred to as paper storage units 1 to 3). Which one to use is selected according to a certain procedure.

  The paper storage unit selection sequence unit 85 of the PC 3 determines which of the paper storage units 1 to 3 the paper storage unit selection sequence unit 84 of the image forming apparatus 1 uses as a paper storage unit for supplying paper used for printing. Any one of the sheet storage units 1 to 3 is selected in the selection procedure.

  In the preview display unit 86, the menu setting information 82 acquired by the acquisition unit 81, the information of the paper storage unit setting information 83, and the paper storage unit selected by the paper storage unit selection sequence unit 85 is any of the paper storage units 1 to 3. Based on the information indicating whether or not there is a preview display when printing is performed with the image data requested by the user.

  The menu setting information 82 and the sheet storage unit setting information 83 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The menu setting information 82 includes various menu settings of the image forming apparatus 1. “Relay paper feed setting ON / OFF of the paper storage unit” is a paper in the paper storage units 1 to 3. Sets whether or not to allow transition to another paper storage unit that contains the same paper when there is no more paper in the storage unit. Transition is permitted when ON, and transition is permitted when OFF. do not do.

  Also, “paper sheet storage unit non-standard setting ON / OFF” is ON when a non-standard size paper that is somewhat different from a standard size paper is stored, and a standard size paper is stored. When it is off. When ON, the paper in the paper storage unit cannot be changed when there is no paper in another paper storage unit, but can be changed when OFF.

  “Enlargement / reduction setting” is a setting for enlarging or reducing an image for printing. For example, the user setting in the image forming apparatus 1 is to enlarge the B4 size to the A3 size or to reduce the A3 size to the B4 size.

  In the paper storage unit setting information 83, for each paper storage unit, items such as the size of the stored paper (A4, B4, etc.), paper quality (plain paper, thick paper, etc.), the presence of paper, and the like are set. The size of the paper, the presence or absence of the paper, and the like can be detected by sensors provided in the paper storage units 1 to 3, and the paper quality can be set by the operation panel 66.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the preview function.

  When receiving a preview execution instruction from the user (Y in step S1), the PC 3 (the CPU 71) acquires the menu setting information 82 and the sheet storage unit setting information 83 from the image forming apparatus 1 (step S2). Next, one of the paper storage units 1 to 3 is selected by a procedure for selecting which one of the paper storage units 1 to 3 to use as the paper storage unit that supplies the paper used for printing. (Details will be described later) (Step S3). Therefore, the selection of the sheet storage unit is performed in the same procedure as that executed in the image forming apparatus 1. Then, a preview display is performed on the display device 77 based on the menu setting information 82, the paper storage unit setting information 83, and information indicating which paper storage unit is selected in step S3 (step S4).

  Next, the subroutine of step S3 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, information on the paper size and paper quality is acquired from the print conditions of the print data to be previewed (step S11). Then, the enlargement / reduction setting field of the menu setting information 82 is referred to (step S12). Then, the paper size and paper quality required for printing are determined from these information (step S13).

  A paper storage unit in which the determined paper size and paper quality match the size and paper quality of the stored paper is searched (step S14), and the non-standard setting is OFF from the searched paper storage unit (Step S15), and when there is a paper storage section that can be searched (Y in step S16), the paper storage section is determined (step S17).

  If there is no paper storage section that can be searched (N in Step S16), it is determined whether or not the paper size determined in Step S13 is a paper size that can be reduced (Step S18). Here, combinations of paper sizes that can be reduced for a certain paper size are determined in advance, and the same combination is set in the paper storage unit selection sequence unit 84 and the paper storage unit selection sequence unit 85. In this example, if it is A3 size, it can be reduced to B4 or A4. If it is B4 size, it can be reduced to A4 or B5. If it is A4 size, it can be reduced to B5.

  If the paper size can be reduced (Y in step S18), the paper size after the reduction, the paper size determined in step S13, the paper size accommodated in the paper quality, and the paper storage unit that matches the paper quality are searched. (Step S19) A search is made for a sheet storage section with an indeterminate setting OFF (step S20). If there is a sheet storage section that can be searched (Y in step S21), the sheet storage section is searched. (Step S22).

  If there is no sheet storage section that can be searched (N in step S21), the currently selected sheet storage section is determined (step S23).

  Next, the process of FIG. 9 will be described with a specific example.

  Here, the print data to be previewed has a size of A3 size, and the enlargement / reduction setting has a setting that the A3 size is reduced to A4 size, and the paper storage portion according to the menu setting information 82 and the paper storage portion setting information 83 is set. It is assumed that the settings 1 to 3 are as shown in FIG.

  First, since the enlargement / reduction setting is a setting for reducing the A3 size to the A4 size, the paper size and paper quality necessary for printing are determined as A4 size and plain paper (step S13). Since there is no A4 size paper in the paper storage units 1 to 3, when it is determined whether or not the paper size can be automatically reduced (step S18), the A4 size can be reduced to the B5 size (Y in step S18). The paper storage unit 3 in which B5 size paper is stored is determined (steps S19 to S22). If it is not a reducible paper size (N in step S18), the currently selected paper storage unit is determined (step S23).

  The process of FIG. 9 described above is performed in the same procedure as that executed in the image forming apparatus 1.

  In such a preview function of the PC 3, the selection of the paper storage unit is performed in the same procedure as that executed by the image forming apparatus 1, and the preview is displayed on the same paper as when it was actually printed. 77, the preview process is accurately performed according to the actual printing.

  Further, the menu setting information 82 and the paper storage unit setting information 83 are acquired when a preview execution instruction is received from the user (Y in step S1) (step S2), so that the latest setting information is acquired. The preview is matched with the setting of the image forming apparatus 1 and the preview process is accurately performed according to the actual printing.

1 is a block diagram of an overall configuration of an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is an explanatory diagram of an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a block diagram of electrical connection of the image forming apparatus. FIG. It is a block diagram of the electrical connection of a personal computer. It is a functional block diagram explaining a preview function. It is explanatory drawing of menu setting information. 6 is an explanatory diagram of sheet storage unit setting information. FIG. It is a flowchart of the process which a personal computer performs. It is a flowchart explaining the subroutine of step S3. It is explanatory drawing explaining a process in a specific example.

Explanation of symbols

1 Image forming device 3 Personal computer

Claims (6)

Information acquisition means for acquiring information on the status of the image forming apparatus from an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a print medium;
Based on the status information, the image forming apparatus selects any one of the print media stored in the plurality of storage units that store the print medium as an image forming device. A storage unit selecting means for selecting a shift from the plurality of storage units in a procedure;
Based on the status information acquired by the information acquisition unit and the type of print medium stored in the storage unit selected by the storage unit selection unit, the print data when the target image data is printed on the print medium is printed. Display means for displaying an aspect on a display device;
A display device comprising:   The print display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information acquisition unit acquires status information of the image forming apparatus from the image forming apparatus when the display request for the aspect is requested. An image forming apparatus for forming an image on a print medium;
A print display device connected to the image forming apparatus via a communication unit;
With
The print display device
Information acquisition means for acquiring status information of the image forming apparatus;
Based on the status information, the image forming apparatus selects any one of the print media stored in the plurality of storage units that store the print medium as an image forming device. A storage unit selecting means for selecting a shift from the plurality of storage units in a procedure;
Based on the status information acquired by the information acquisition unit and the type of print medium stored in the storage unit selected by the storage unit selection unit, the print data when the target image data is printed on the print medium is printed. Display means for displaying an aspect on a display device;
With
Print display system.   The print display system according to claim 3, wherein the information acquisition unit acquires status information of the image forming apparatus from the image forming apparatus when there is a request for display of the print mode. Information acquisition means for acquiring information on the status of the image forming apparatus from an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a print medium;
Based on the status information, the image forming apparatus selects any one of the print media stored in the plurality of storage units that store the print medium as an image forming device. A storage unit selecting means for selecting a shift from the plurality of storage units in a procedure;
Based on the status information acquired by the information acquisition unit and the type of print medium stored in the storage unit selected by the storage unit selection unit, the print data when the target image data is printed on the print medium is printed. Display means for displaying an aspect on a display device;
A computer-readable print display control program that causes a computer to execute.   The print display control program according to claim 5, wherein the information acquisition unit acquires information on a status of the image forming apparatus from the image forming apparatus when a request for display of the print mode is made.

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