JP2010081407A - Apparatus and method for forming image - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus and method for forming an image capable of reducing a processing time of a continuous shooting function. <P>SOLUTION: When line data for every line in a main scanning direction as to a document is read P times in a sub-scanning direction by an image sensor 11, (i+kN)-th line data (i is an integer of 1-N; k is an integer of 0-Q; Q=ceiling(P/N): a minimum integer not smaller than P/N) of document data read in a storage part 81 (RAM 82) having N storage areas by an image processing part 4 are stored in an i-th storage area as (i+kN)-th line data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and an image forming method, and in particular, assigns and prints one original on a plurality of chamfered one printing paper, or on a plurality of chamfered one printing paper. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having a so-called continuous shooting function for allocating and printing and an image forming method of the image forming apparatus.

  Recent image forming apparatuses have various functions for copying, and one of the functions is a function for allocating and printing a plurality of originals on one printing sheet (hereinafter referred to as continuous shooting function or continuous shooting). ) For example, in the “digital image forming apparatus” disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-220970, when a plurality of images are assigned to one printing sheet, characters such as a serial number, the number of pages, and a date are automatically assigned to each image. A method for enabling printing is proposed.

  In the conventional image forming apparatus having such a continuous shooting function, the document data read by the document reading means such as a scanner is handled in the case of, for example, one document two-sided continuous shooting, as shown in FIG. After the original data is written into the memory on the first surface in the storage area (see FIG. 10A) and the original data on the first surface is formed (see FIG. 10B), the first surface in the first memory is stored. The original data is copied (copied) to the second-side memory (see FIG. 10C), and the continuous-shooting data based on the first-side original data and the second-side original data is completed (see FIG. 10D). Is.

JP-A-1-220970

  The continuous shooting function is useful for allocating multiple pages on a single sheet of paper, saving paper, binding a bag such as a collection of sentences, or printing a standard document such as message memo paper. As described above, in the conventional image forming apparatus, it is necessary to copy the scanned document data for the number of continuous shots in the storage device, so that it takes time to form an image and a user who wants to obtain a printed matter quickly. There was a situation that it was not possible to meet the request of.

  In addition, as a method for dealing with this situation, a method for suppressing the copy amount in the storage device can be considered. However, this method for suppressing the copy amount sacrifices the image quality of the printed matter in order to increase the processing speed. Therefore, even if time is required, there is a situation in which it is not possible to respond to other users' requests for giving priority to the image quality of printed matter.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional circumstances, and assigns and prints one original on a plurality of chamfered print sheets, or a single chamfer of a plurality of originals. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus and an image forming method capable of accelerating the processing time of a continuous shooting function in an image forming apparatus having a so-called continuous shooting function that is assigned to a printing sheet and performs printing.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a high-speed continuous shooting mode that speeds up the processing time of the continuous shooting function and a fine continuous shooting mode that prioritizes image quality, so that high-speed processing or high image quality can be selected by the user. An apparatus and an image forming method are provided.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned object, the invention described in claim 1 is directed to a single sheet of printing paper in which M (M is any positive integer) chamfered on N (N is an arbitrary positive integer satisfying N> M). An image forming apparatus having a continuous shooting function for allocating and printing, and for each of the M sheets, line data for each line in the main scanning direction is P (P is an arbitrary positive integer) times in the sub scanning direction. Document reading means to read, storage means having M storage area groups having N storage areas, and j (j = 1 to M positive integer) -th original data read by the original reading means i + kN (a positive integer from i = 1 to N, a positive integer from k = 0 to Q; Q = ceiling (P / N): the smallest integer equal to or greater than P / N) The line data of the jth storage area group control means for storing the i + kN-th line data in the i-th storage area; It is characterized by providing.

  The invention described in claim 2 is the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising mode setting means for setting either the fine continuous shooting mode or the high-speed continuous shooting mode, wherein the control means is the high-speed continuous shooting mode. When the continuous shooting mode is set, the processing according to claim 1 is performed. When the detailed continuous shooting mode is set, the original data read by the original reading unit for the M originals is stored in one storage area group. Then, the storage data in the one storage area is copied to another storage area in the same storage area group.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of the first and second aspects, an interpolation ratio setting means is provided for setting an interpolation ratio when the high-speed continuous shooting mode is set. , For each storage area group, the control means converts the i + kN (i = 1 to N, k = 0 to Q) -th line data of the storage area into N−1 i + kN + h (h = 1 to N−1). Copying to the number of line data areas corresponding to the interpolation ratio in the (positive integer) th line data area.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus having a continuous shooting function for allocating and printing one original on one printing paper chamfered by N (N is an arbitrary positive integer). Document reading means for reading line data for each line in the main scanning direction P (P is an arbitrary positive integer) times in the main scanning direction, storage means having N storage areas, and document reading The i + kN (i = 1 to N positive integer, k = 0 to Q positive integer; Q = ceiling (P / N): minimum integer equal to or greater than P / N) -th line data of the document data read by the means control means for storing the data in the i-th storage area as i + kN-th line data.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, a single original is printed on a single sheet of paper that is chamfered by N (N = 2 ^R ; R is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2). When allocating and continuously shooting, the storage means includes N + S (S = 2 ^{floor (R / 2)} : floor (R / 2) is a maximum integer equal to or less than R / 2) storage areas, and the control means Stores the document data read by the document reading means in the storage areas N + 1 to N + S of the storage means, respectively, and uses the data in the storage areas N + 1 to N + S as one intermediate data. Assuming that the intermediate data is T (T = N / S) chamfered in the sub-scanning direction, i + kN (i = 1 to N positive integers, k = 0 to Q positive data of N + 1 to N + S storage areas) Integer; Q = ceiling (P / N): P / The smallest integer) th line data of the above, and to store the i + kN th line data in the storage area from each 1 + gS (g = 0~T-1) th to S + gS th.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of the fourth or fifth aspect, the mode setting means for setting either the fine continuous shooting mode or the high-speed continuous shooting mode is provided. The control means performs the processing according to any one of claims 4 and 5 when the high-speed continuous shooting mode is set, and reads the original data read by the original reading means when the detailed continuous shooting mode is set. After storing in one storage area, the storage data of the one storage area is copied to another storage area.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of the fourth to sixth aspects, an interpolation ratio setting unit is provided for setting an interpolation ratio when the high-speed continuous shooting mode is set. The control means converts the i + kN (i = 1 to N, k = 0 to Q) th line data of the storage area into the (N−1) th i + kN + h (h = 1 to N−1) th line. Copying is performed in the number of line data areas corresponding to the interpolation ratio in the data area.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, the image forming apparatus includes a determination unit that determines whether all the pixels of the line data are white pixels. The control means does not store line data in which all pixels are determined to be white pixels in the storage means.

  Further, according to the ninth aspect of the present invention, M (M is an arbitrary positive integer) number of originals are arranged and printed on a single sheet of chamfered N (N is an arbitrary positive integer of N> M) chamfer. An image forming method of an image forming apparatus having a copying function and having a storage means having M storage area groups having N storage areas, wherein each of the M originals is line by line in the main scanning direction. Original line reading step P (P is an arbitrary positive integer) times in the sub-scanning direction, and the j (j = 1 positive integer) M original data read in the original reading step. i + kN (a positive integer from i = 1 to N, a positive integer from k = 0 to Q; Q = ceiling (P / N): the smallest integer equal to or greater than P / N) The line data of the jth storage area group Store as i + kN-th line data in the i-th storage area And a control step.

  Furthermore, the invention described in claim 10 is provided with a continuous shooting function for allocating and printing one original on one printing paper chamfered by N (N is an arbitrary positive integer), and has N storage areas. An image forming method of an image forming apparatus provided with a storage unit, wherein the original reading step reads line data for each line in the main scanning direction P (P is an arbitrary positive integer) times in the sub scanning direction. I + kN of the document data read in the document reading step (i = 1 to N, a positive integer, k = 0 to Q; Q = ceiling (P / N): the smallest integer greater than or equal to P / N) And a control step of storing the i-th line data as i + kN-th line data in the i-th storage area.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the control means controls the i + kN (i = 1 to N positive integer, k = 0 to Q positive data) of the original data of j (j = 1 to M). The (integer) th line data is stored as i + kNth line data in the ith storage area of the jth storage area group. Here, Q is a value given by the ceiling function ceiling (P / N), and is a minimum integer equal to or greater than P / N. As a result, the amount of data stored in the storage means is reduced to M / N (N> M) compared to the conventional case, and the original data on the first page is copied (copied) to the memory on the other side for each storage area group. Since it is not necessary, the processing time of image formation can be shortened, and the processing time of the multi-document multi-sided continuous shooting (M original N-side continuous shooting) function can be increased.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the high-speed continuous shooting mode that speeds up the processing time of the multi-document multi-sided continuous shooting (M original N-side continuous shooting) function and the fine continuous shooting mode that prioritizes image quality are provided. In addition, high-speed processing or high image quality can be selected by the user. That is, it is possible to realize a user-friendly image forming apparatus that can respond to the user's request.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the high-speed continuous shooting mode is set, the control means sets the storage area i + kN for each storage area group according to the setting of the interpolation ratio by the user via the interpolation ratio setting means. (I = 1 to N, k = 0 to Q) The number of line data corresponding to the interpolation ratio in the (N−1) i + kN + h (h = 1 to N−1) th line data area. Therefore, it is possible to realize a higher-speed multi-document multi-sided continuous shooting (M-original N-side continuous shooting) function while maintaining the image quality desired by the user.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the control means converts the i + kN (i = 1 to N positive integer, k = 0 to Q positive integer) line data of the document data into the i-th storage area. Are stored as the i + kN-th line data. As a result, the amount of data stored in the storage means is reduced to 1 / N (1/2 in the case of continuous copying of one original in FIG. 10) compared to the conventional case (see FIG. 10). Since it is not necessary to copy the original data to the memory on the other side, the processing time for image formation can be shortened, and the processing time of the single original multi-sided continuous shooting (one original N-side continuous shooting) function can be increased. can do.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, a single document is assigned to a single sheet of chamfered N (N = 2 ^R ; R is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2) chamfered sheets (that is, 1 N + S (S = 2 ^{floor (R / 2)} : floor (R / 2) is the largest integer equal to or less than R / 2) in the storage means when the document is continuously shot on 4 pages, 1 page is continuously scanned on 8 pages) It is assumed that the storage area is provided. Here, S is a value given by the power of 2 floor function floor (R / 2), and is a number obtained by multiplying 2 by the smallest integer number equal to or greater than R / 2. Further, the control unit stores the document data in the storage areas from the (N + 1) th to the (N + S) th storage unit. At this time, data obtained by continuously copying the original data in the S-plane in the main scanning direction is formed in the (N + 1) th to N + Sth storage areas. Then, the T area high-speed continuous shooting is performed on the assumption that the data in the storage areas from the (N + 1) th to the (N + S) th is one intermediate data, and the intermediate data is T (T = N / S) chamfered in the sub-scanning direction.

  Thus, for example, in the case of a configuration in which a continuous scanning function in the main scanning direction is incorporated in an ASIC-IC (application-specific integrated circuit) that performs image processing on document data, continuous scanning in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction is independent. Thus, the present invention can be applied to a configuration performed in this way to realize high-speed continuous shooting. Note that the amount of data stored in the storage means is reduced to 1 / T compared to the prior art, which is S times that of the invention described in claim 4, but the image quality is maintained to some extent. The processing time for image formation can be shortened compared to the conventional method.

  According to the invention described in claim 6, there is provided a high-speed continuous shooting mode for speeding up the processing time of a single original multi-sided continuous shooting (one original N-side continuous shooting) function and a fine continuous shooting mode for giving priority to image quality. In addition, high-speed processing or high image quality can be selected by the user. That is, it is possible to realize a user-friendly image forming apparatus that can respond to the user's request.

  According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, when the high-speed continuous shooting mode is set, i + kN (i = 1 to 1) of the storage area is controlled by the control means according to the setting of the interpolation ratio by the user via the interpolation ratio setting means. N, k = 0 to Q) -th line data is the number of line data areas corresponding to the interpolation ratio in the (N−1) i + kN + h (h = 1 to N−1) -th line data area. Therefore, it is possible to realize a higher-speed single original multi-sided continuous shooting (one original N-side continuous shooting) function while maintaining the image quality desired by the user.

  According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, the line data for which all the pixels are determined to be white pixels by the determination means are not stored in the storage means, so that the writing process to the storage means is omitted, so that the processing speed is high. Can be achieved. In particular, in a standard document such as a message memo paper, it is expected that a blank area in which characters or the like are not described will occupy a considerable proportion, and the effect of omitting the writing process is great.

  According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the control step performs i + kN (i = 1 to N positive integer, k = 0 to Q positive data) of the original data of j (j = 1 to M). The (integer) th line data is stored as i + kNth line data in the ith storage area of the jth storage area group. As a result, the amount of data stored in the storage means is reduced to M / N (N> M) compared to the conventional case, and the original data on the first page is copied (copied) to the memory on the other side for each storage area group. Since it is not necessary, the processing time of image formation can be shortened, and the processing time of the multi-document multi-sided continuous shooting (M original N-side continuous shooting) function can be increased.

  According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, the i + kN (i = 1 to N positive integer, k = 0 to Q positive integer) line data of the document data is stored in the i-th storage area by the control step. Are stored as the i + kN-th line data. As a result, the amount of data stored in the storage means is reduced to 1 / N (1/2 in the case of continuous copying of one original in FIG. 10) compared to the conventional case (see FIG. 10). Since it is not necessary to copy the original data to the memory on the other side, the processing time for image formation can be shortened, and the processing time of the single original multi-sided continuous shooting (one original N-side continuous shooting) function can be increased. can do.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the image forming apparatus of the present invention will be described. In the following description, an example in which the image forming apparatus of the present invention is applied to a stencil printing machine will be described. However, the image forming apparatus of the present invention is not limited to a stencil printing machine, and other printing machines and copiers. Etc. are applicable.

  First, an embodiment of a stencil printing machine to which the image forming apparatus of the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a functional configuration of a stencil printing machine according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an overall structure of the stencil printing machine according to the present embodiment.

  First, the overall configuration of the stencil printing machine will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the stencil printing apparatus 1 of this embodiment is roughly composed of a document reading unit 10, a plate making / writing unit 20, a cutter unit 30, and a printing unit 40.

  The document reading unit 10 is a mechanism for performing a document reading process. The document reading unit 10 sets a document 7 that is a copy object, and a document sensor that detects the document 7 set on the document setting table 12. 17, a document conveying roller pair 14 that is rotationally driven by a detection signal of the document sensor 17, a contact image sensor 11 that optically reads an image of the conveyed document 7 and converts it into an analog electric signal, and an image A document discharge roller pair 15 for discharging the document 7 read by the sensor 11 to the document discharge tray 19 is provided.

  The document IN sensor 16 is a means for detecting the conveyed document 7 and determines the start of the plate making / writing unit 20 described later. Further, the document transport roller pair 14 and the document discharge roller pair 15 are rotationally driven by a stepping motor 18 as indicated by dotted lines in the figure.

  In the document reading unit 10, when a control signal (not shown) receives a detection signal from the document sensor 17, the document transport roller pair 14 is rotationally driven to transport the document 7 in a predetermined direction. 7 is optically read. The original 7 from which the image has been read is discharged to the original discharge tray 19 by the original discharge roller pair 15. Further, an analog signal for one document read by the image sensor 11 is converted into digital data by an A / D converter (not shown) and then sent to the image processor 4 (not shown in FIG. 2).

  The plate-making writing unit 20 conveys the thermal head 21 in which a plurality of heating elements 21 a are arranged in a line in the main scanning direction and the stencil sheet 23 fed from the stencil sheet roller 22 while pressing the thermal head 21 against the thermal head 21. The platen roller 24 and a base paper transport roller pair 26 that transports the stencil paper 23 made by the thermal head 21 toward the clamp portion 32 of the drum 33 described later. Note that the writing motor 25 indicated by a dotted line in FIG. 2 is a stepping motor and rotationally drives the platen roller 24 and the base paper conveying roller pair 26.

  The cutter unit 30 is a mechanism for cutting the stencil sheet 23. When the stencil sheet 23 made by the thermal head 21 is wound around the drum 33 and has a predetermined length, the stencil sheet 23 is cut. Is provided at a predetermined position.

  Further, the printing unit 40 includes a drum 33 as a rotating part for image transfer, which includes an ink supply unit that supplies a predetermined amount of ink to the inner surface from an ink reservoir 58 formed between the doctor roller 56 and the squeegee roller 57, and a supply unit. A primary paper feed roller 46 that picks up and transports the print paper 43 one by one from the print paper that is stacked on the paper table 44 and becomes a copy, and the print paper 43 that is transported from the primary paper feed roller 46 has a predetermined timing. A pair of secondary paper feed rollers 42, a press roller 35 that presses the printing paper 43 fed from the secondary paper feeding roller 42 against the outer peripheral surface of the drum 33, and the printed printing paper 43 from the drum 33. The configuration includes a separation claw 55 for peeling off, and a paper discharge tray 49 for discharging and stacking the print paper 43 peeled off and discharged from the drum 33.

  The printing unit 40 is provided with a paper feed sensor (not shown) and a paper discharge sensor (not shown). The paper feed sensor is a transmission type sensor that detects whether or not the printing paper 43 is conveyed between the secondary paper feeding rollers 42. When the printing paper 43 is detected to be conveyed, a detection signal having a predetermined potential is generated. The data is output to a control unit described later. On the other hand, the paper discharge sensor is a reflective sensor that detects whether or not the print paper 43 is discharged from between the drum 33 and the press roller 35. When it is detected that the print paper 43 is discharged, a predetermined potential is detected. The detection signal is output to the control unit described later. By adding a counter value each time a detection signal is output from the paper discharge sensor, it is possible to count the number of prints of the print paper 43 on which a print image is formed.

  A clamp 32 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the drum 33 to clamp the leading end of the stencil sheet 23 that has been made and conveyed by the thermal head 21. The pre-made stencil sheet 23 clamped by the clamp part 32 is wound around the outer peripheral surface thereof by rotating the drum 33 (plate making). A main motor 34 indicated by a dotted line in the drawing is a DC motor, and is for driving the drum 33 to rotate. In the following description, the main motor is appropriately referred to as “motor” (reference numeral is omitted). Moreover, in FIG. 2, the code | symbol 41 is a conveyance path.

  An operation panel 6 (see FIG. 1) is provided on the upper surface of the apparatus main body. The operation panel 6 includes a plate making / printing start key for starting the plate making and printing processing in which the mode is set, a plate making / printing switching key for switching the plate making / printing mode, and a document mode (character mode, photo mode or character / character Character mode key, photo mode key, and character / photo mode key to set each (photo mode) are arranged. Besides these, stop key to stop the plate making and printing process in operation, and setting from the operation panel Reset key for resetting selected items, numeric keypad for entering the number of copies to be printed, top and bottom position movement amount, setting confirmation key for confirming the selected mode setting, trial for performing trial printing after plate making processing A printing key, a center key for centering the printing position, and the like are arranged.

  The operation panel 6 is provided with a display / input panel. The display / input panel includes a pressure-sensitive or electrostatic transparent touch panel disposed on the front surface and a liquid crystal display panel disposed on the back surface of the touch panel. The user can input various parameters by directly touching the surface of the touch panel with a finger or the like while viewing the display screen of the liquid crystal display panel. For example, when plate making or printing processing is performed, setting of a sorter function, setting of continuous shooting / continuous printing function, and the like can be performed through a setting input screen displayed below the touch panel. In addition to the end of plate making and the start of printing, the liquid crystal display panel also displays a message for notifying the time for motor replacement. Such input means such as various data and settings are not limited to the form of the operation panel exemplified above, and may be in other forms and forms as long as they function in the same manner.

  Next, a functional configuration related to the control system of the stencil printing machine 1 will be described. In FIG. 1, the control unit 5 is a part that controls the operation of the stencil printing machine 1 as a whole, and is configured by a central processing unit (CPU, MPU, etc.) that executes various arithmetic processes and data input / output processes. ing.

  The control unit 5 stores a RAM 82 that stores various commands and image information input from the operation panel 6, image data from the image processing unit 4, and a control program executed by the control unit 5. A storage unit 81 including a ROM 83 is connected, and a document reading unit driving circuit 85 that drives the document reading unit 10, a plate making / writing unit driving circuit 86 that controls driving of the plate making / writing unit 20, and driving of the printing unit 40. The printing unit drive circuit 87, the image processing unit 4, and the operation panel 6 to be controlled are connected (the description of the other connected devices is omitted).

  Further, the control unit 5, RAM 82, ROM 83, an input / output interface (I / O interface) (not shown), and the like can be configured by a microcomputer or the like. However, each of these units can be configured by a plurality of microcomputers, and may be configured as a device that executes a plurality of controls in addition to control of document reading, plate making, printing, and the like.

  Next, processing of the image sensor 11, the A / D conversion unit 3, the image processing unit 4, and the control unit 5 illustrated in FIG. 2 will be described. The image sensor 11 reads the reflected light of the light irradiated on the document, converts the density of the image formed on the document into an analog signal (photoelectric conversion) by the CCD, and outputs the analog signal to the A / D conversion unit 3.

  The A / D conversion unit 3 converts the analog signal read by the image sensor 11 into, for example, 8-bit (0 to 255 gradation) digital data and outputs the digital data to the image processing unit 4. At this time, processing such as shading correction is performed.

  Further, the image processing unit 4 performs image processing for stencil printing according to the document mode on the digital data converted by the A / D conversion unit 3 and outputs it to the control unit 5 as binarized monochrome data. To do. For example, when the character mode is selected, the digital data is simply binarized (monochrome is determined based on a threshold value) to be 1-bit monochrome data. When the photo mode is selected, the digital data is converted in density, and then halftone processing (halftone dot / error diffusion) is performed, so that 1-bit monochrome data is expressed so that the density is expressed by the density of surrounding pixels. And The black and white data represents the density (gradation) of the photographic document as a whole.

  Note that 1-bit monochrome data is represented by “0” or “1” such that a white pixel is “0”, a black pixel is “1”, a white pixel is “1”, and a black pixel is “0”. Digital signal.

  With the above-described configuration, the stencil printing machine 1 of the present embodiment has a continuous shooting function for allocating and printing a plurality of originals on one printing paper. Eventually, the image data of a plurality of documents is assigned to the image data for plate making used when the plate making writing unit 20 performs the plate making process. This assignment processing is performed by the image processing unit 4. Either before or after the value conversion process or the density conversion process and the halftone process. In the following description, it is assumed that the allocation process is performed in the previous stage for easy understanding. Since image data of a plurality of originals is assigned to the image data for plate making, it is usually necessary to compress (reduce) the image data according to the size of the printing paper.

  As a specific embodiment, in [Embodiment 1], continuous shooting when a standard-size paper is used for a document is used, and in [Embodiment 2], mode setting and interpolation ratio setting, and interpolation ratio when high-speed continuous shooting mode is set. Interpolation processing according to the setting will be described in detail in [Embodiment 3] with reference to the drawings for continuous shooting in the case where an irregular-size paper is used for a document.

[Example 1]
First, FIG. 3 to FIG. 5 illustrate one original multi-sided continuous shooting (one original N-side continuous shooting) and multiple original multi-sided continuous shooting (M original N-side continuous shooting) when the original is a standard size and the printing paper is also a standard size. Will be described. Here, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an allocation process at the time of continuous shooting of two originals, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an allocation process for various continuous shootings, and FIG. 5 is a continuous shooting in the main scanning direction. It is explanatory drawing explaining the allocation process of various continuous shooting when using ASIC etc. provided with the function.

  In one-document N-side continuous shooting (one-document multi-sided continuous shooting) in which one document is arranged and printed on one printing sheet chamfered with N (N is an arbitrary positive integer), the document reading means (image sensor 11) When the line data for each line in the main scanning direction is read P (P is an arbitrary positive integer) times in the sub-scanning direction for the document, the allocation processing is performed by the control means (in this embodiment, the image processing unit). 4), i + kN (i = 1 to N positive integer, k = 0 to Q positive integer) of the original data read into the storage means (RAM 82 of the storage unit 81) having N storage areas; = Ceiling (P / N): the smallest integer equal to or greater than P / N) is performed by storing the i th line data in the i th storage area as the i + kN th line data.

  Here, when the original is a standard size and the printing paper is also the standard size, N is a power of 2, 2, 4, 8, 16,... The value of is taken.

  With reference to FIG. 3, the assignment process in the two-sheet continuous shooting for one document will be described. As shown in FIG. 6A, two storage areas (first side memory and second side memory) having a capacity of the number of bits for one line × P are prepared in the storage unit 81, and 1 of the original data is stored. The line data of the third line,..., Are written to the memory on the first side, and the second line, the fourth line,. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5B, the odd-numbered line data is stored in the first-side memory, and the even-numbered line data is stored in the second-side memory.

  The first row of FIG. 4 also shows the document placement mode and the recording mode in the storage area of the storage unit 81 in the case of continuous shooting of two pages of one document. The document is set so that the long side of the document is in the main scanning direction and the short side of the document is in the sub-scanning direction, and is continuously shot in the sub-scanning direction on the printing paper (on the plate-making data).

  Further, the second stage of FIG. 4 shows a document placement mode and a recording mode in the storage area of the storage unit 81 in the case of four-sided continuous shooting of one document. The document is placed so that the short side of the document is in the main scanning direction and the long side of the document is in the sub scanning direction, and is continuously shot on the printing paper (on the plate-making data) in the main scanning direction and the sub scanning direction, respectively. It becomes.

  The memory allocation in the case of four-sided continuous shooting of one original is described in more detail with reference to FIG. 8 illustrating an interpolation process to be described later. As shown in FIG. Four storage areas (first side, second side, third side and fourth side memory) are prepared, and the first line, fifth line,... Line data of the original data is stored in the first side memory. The second line, sixth line,... Line data of the data is stored in the memory on the second side, the third line, the seventh line, etc. of the original data is stored in the memory on the third side, the fourth line of the original data, The line data of the eighth line,... Are written in the memory on the fourth side.

  Next, M originals N-side continuous shooting (multi-originals) is performed by allocating M (M is an arbitrary positive integer) originals to N (N is an arbitrary positive integer satisfying N> M) chamfered sheet for printing. In the case of multi-plane continuous shooting, the original reading means (image sensor 11) reads line data for each line in the main scanning direction P (P is an arbitrary positive integer) times in the sub scanning direction. In the allocation process, j (j = 1 to M positive values) read by the control means (image processing section 4) is read into the storage means (RAM 82 of the storage section 81) having M storage area groups having N storage areas. (Integer) i + kN (i = 1 to N positive integer, k = 0 to Q positive integer; Q = ceiling (P / N): smallest integer equal to or greater than P / N) th line data To the i + kNth line data in the ith storage area of the jth storage area group. It is done by memorizing.

  Here, when the original is a standard size and the printing paper is also a standard size, N is 4, 8, 16,... A power value is taken. Note that printing in which two originals are assigned to two sides of a printing sheet is simply two-sided reduced printing.

  The third row in FIG. 4 shows the document placement mode and the recording mode in the storage area of the storage unit 81 in the case of continuous shooting of two originals and four pages. Documents A and B are installed such that the short side of the document is in the main scanning direction and the long side of the document is in the sub-scanning direction, and A (memory on the first side) is placed on the printing paper (on the plate-making data) in the sub-scanning direction. ) And B (memory on the third side) are allocated, and these are continuously shot in the main scanning direction.

  Memory allocation in the case of two-document four-sided continuous shooting has four storage areas (first side, second side, third side and fourth side memory) having a capacity of the number of bits for one line × P in the storage unit 81. The line data of the first line, the third line,... Of the prepared document A data is stored in the memory on the first page and the second and fourth lines of the document A data are prepared (when the arrangement relationship is the same as in FIG. 8). The line data of the second page, the first line of the original B data, the third line,... The line data of the second line of the original B data, the second line, the fourth line,. Data is written to the memory on the fourth side.

  The fourth row in FIG. 4 shows the document placement mode and the recording mode in the storage area of the storage unit 81 in the case of four-document 8-sided continuous shooting. Documents A, B, C, and D are set so that the long side of the document is in the main scanning direction and the short side of the document is in the sub-scanning direction. Memory on the first side), B (memory on the third side), C (memory on the fifth side), and D (memory on the seventh side) are allocated, and these are continuously shot in the main scanning direction.

  In the case of four-document 8-sided continuous shooting, the memory unit 81 is provided with eight storage areas (the first to eighth memory) having a capacity of the number of bits for one line × P (FIG. 8). The line data of the first line, the third line,... Of the original A data is stored in the memory on the first side, and the second line, the fourth line,. In the second page memory, the first line, third line,... Line data of the original B data is stored in the third page memory, and the second line, fourth line,. The line data of the first line, the third line,... Of the original C data is stored in the memory on the fifth side, the line data of the second line, the fourth line,. The first line of data, the third line, ... Data in the memory seven side first, the second line of the document D data, the fourth line, ... line data in the memory of the octahedral th, respectively written.

  In recent years, processing (for example, continuous scanning in the main scanning direction, image area separation, moire removal, and binarization processing) in the image forming apparatus (stencil printing machine) is performed by an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit). A configuration realized by a digital signal processor (DSP) or the like has been proposed. In contrast to a configuration in which such a continuous scanning function in the main scanning direction is incorporated in hardware such as an ASIC, the present invention is mainly applied to continuous shooting in the sub-scanning direction.

  With reference to FIG. 5, an explanation will be given of the process for assigning various continuous shots when using an ASIC or the like having a continuous shooting function in the main scanning direction. First, since there is no continuous shooting in the main scanning direction in the allocation process in the two-sheet continuous shooting for one document, the allocation process equivalent to the first stage in FIG. 4 is performed as shown in the first stage in FIG.

  Further, in the allocation process in the four-sided continuous shooting of one document, first, two-sided continuous shooting in the main scanning direction of the document is performed by an ASIC or the like, and the continuous shooting data is stored in the ASIC or the like or a predetermined storage area of the storage unit 81. Remembered. Here, the storage area needs to have a capacity of the number of bits for one line × 2P (P is the document reading means (the number of lines in the sub-scanning direction of the image sensor 11)).

  Next, assuming that the data in this storage area is one intermediate data and the intermediate data is two-sided in the sub-scanning direction, the same processing as one document two-sided continuous shooting is performed for one line in the storage unit 81. This is performed for the storage area (the memory on the first side to the memory on the fourth side) having a capacity of the number of bits × P. Here, one document is intermediate data, and the second page is a storage area where the first and second side memories are one side, and the third side and fourth side memory are other storage areas.

Generalizing this one-document four-sided continuous shooting assignment process as one original eight-sided continuous shooting, one original 16-sided continuous shooting, and so on is as follows. When a single document is assigned to a single sheet of printing paper that is chamfered with N (N = 2 ^R ; R is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2), the storage means (storage unit 81) stores N + S (S = 2 ^{floor). (R / 2)} : floor (R / 2) is a maximum integer less than or equal to R / 2) storage areas, and the read original data is stored in storage areas 81 from the (N + 1) th to the (N + S) th storage area, respectively. Then, the data from the (N + 1) th to the (N + S) th storage area is regarded as one intermediate data, and the intermediate data is stored as T (T = N / S) chamfering in the sub-scanning direction. I + kN (i = 1 to N positive integer, k = 0 to Q positive integer; Q = ceiling (P / N): smallest integer equal to or greater than P / N) of the data in the region, 1 + gS (G = 0 to T-1) to S + gSth It is stored as i + kN th line data in the area.

  Next, in multi-manuscript multi-sided continuous shooting, as shown in the third row in FIG. 5 (2-document 4-sided continuous shooting) and the fourth row in FIG. Although the two-plane continuous shooting in the main scanning direction is performed, the allocation process to the storage area is completed at that time, and the present invention is not applied.

  As described above, according to the image forming apparatus and the image forming method of the present embodiment, when image N is continuously shot on N original sheets, the image processing unit 4 performs i + kN (i = 1 to N positive integers, k = 0 to a positive integer of 0 to Q) -th line data is stored in the i-th storage area as i + kN-th line data. As a result, the amount of data stored in the storage unit 81 is reduced to 1 / N compared to the conventional case. For example, in the case of single-image two-sided continuous shooting, the amount of data stored in the storage unit 81 is reduced to ½ as compared with the prior art, as is apparent from a comparison between FIGS. Further, since it is not necessary to copy (copy) the original data of the first page to the memory of the other side, it is possible to reduce the processing time of image formation. As a result, one original multi-sided continuous shooting (one original N-side continuous shooting) ) The processing time of the function can be increased.

Further, in the image forming apparatus and the image forming method of this embodiment, one original N-plane continuous shooting (N = 2 ^R ; R is a positive integer of 2 or more; that is, one original four-sided continuous shooting, one original eight-sided continuous shooting, ..)), The storage unit 81 includes N + S (S = 2 ^{floor (R / 2)} : floor (R / 2) is a maximum integer equal to or less than R / 2) storage areas. Here, S is a value given by the power of 2 floor function floor (R / 2), and is a number obtained by multiplying 2 by the smallest integer number equal to or greater than R / 2. Further, the image processing unit 4 stores the document data in the storage areas from the (N + 1) th to the (N + S) th storage unit. At this time, data obtained by continuously copying the original data in the S-plane in the main scanning direction is formed in the (N + 1) th to N + Sth storage areas. Then, the T area high-speed continuous shooting is performed on the assumption that the data in the storage areas from the (N + 1) th to the (N + S) th is one intermediate data, and the intermediate data is T (T = N / S) chamfered in the sub-scanning direction.

  As a result, for example, in a configuration in which continuous scanning functions in the main scanning direction are incorporated in an ASIC or the like that performs image processing on document data, a configuration that performs continuous shooting in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction independently is used. Copying can be realized. Note that the amount of data stored in the storage means is reduced to 1 / T (for example, 1/2 in the case of four-sided continuous shooting of one original document) compared to the conventional case, and in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction. Compared to the case where the present invention is applied, it is S (e.g., 2 in the case of continuous shooting of one original on four sides). it can.

  Further, in the image forming apparatus and the image forming method of the present embodiment, when the M document N-side continuous shooting is performed, the image processing unit 4 performs i + kN (j + jN) of the original data of j (j = 1 to M). i = 1 to N positive integer, k = 0 to Q positive integer) line data is stored as i + kN-th line data in the i-th storage area of the j-th storage area group. Here, Q is a value given by the ceiling function ceiling (P / N), and is a minimum integer equal to or greater than P / N. As a result, the amount of data stored in the storage unit 81 is reduced to M / N (N> M) compared to the conventional case, and the original data on the first page is copied (copied) to the memory on the other side for each storage area group. Therefore, the processing time for image formation can be shortened, and the processing time of the multi-document multi-sided continuous shooting (M-original N-side continuous shooting) function can be increased.

[Example 2]
Next, interpolation processing according to mode setting, interpolation ratio setting, and interpolation ratio setting when the high-speed continuous shooting mode is set will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. Here, FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining interpolation processing in the case of two-sheet continuous shooting of one original, and FIG. 7 is a mode setting of either the fine continuous shooting mode or the high-speed continuous shooting mode, and the high-speed continuous shooting mode. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a display / input panel on the operation panel 6 for setting an interpolation ratio at the time of setting, and FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an interpolation process in the case of one document four-sided continuous shooting.

  First, with reference to FIG. 6, an interpolation process in the case of continuous copying of one original and two pages will be described. FIG. 6A shows the state of the storage area after the assignment process of the first embodiment is performed by continuous copying of one original. That is, the line data of the first line, the third line,... Of the original data is written in the memory on the first side, and the line data of the second line, the fourth line,. It is a state that has been.

  The interpolation processing is performed by copying (copying) the written line data to the area of line data not written. For example, when the line data of the third line of the memory on the first side is copied to the storage area of the fourth line, and the line data of the fourth line of the memory on the second side is copied to the storage area of the fifth line, FIG. As shown in Here, the simplest one-document two-sided continuous shooting is illustrated as an example of one-document multi-sided continuous shooting. The same applies to photo.

  In the assignment process of the first embodiment, one-line data of original data is assigned to one storage area without copying to another storage area at the time of one original N-side continuous shooting or M original N-side continuous shooting. The amount of data stored in the section 81 was reduced to 1 / N or M / N, respectively, and the processing time for image formation was shortened to increase the speed and respond to the user's desire to obtain printed matter quickly. There is also a demand from other users to give priority to the image quality of printed matter even if it is applied. Therefore, in the present embodiment, a high-speed continuous shooting mode that speeds up the processing time of the N original N-side continuous shooting function or the M original N-side continuous shooting function and a fine continuous shooting mode that prioritizes image quality are provided. User-selectable high image quality. Furthermore, when the high-speed continuous shooting mode is set, interpolation processing is performed according to the user's interpolation ratio setting to realize a higher-speed continuous shooting function while maintaining the image quality.

  The mode setting of the high-speed continuous shooting mode or the fine continuous shooting mode is illustrated in FIG. 7 when the continuous printing is selected on the basic screen of the display / input panel on the operation panel 6 in the stencil printing machine 1 of this embodiment. Prompts the user to set the mode. That is, a user who wants to obtain a printed material quickly sets the high-speed continuous shooting mode via the high-speed continuous shooting key 61, and a user who wants to give priority to the image quality of the printed material sets the fine continuous shooting mode via the fine continuous shooting key 62. . That is, the mode setting means referred to in the claims corresponds to the high-speed continuous shooting key 61 and the fine continuous shooting key 62.

  When the high-speed continuous shooting mode is set, the processing of the first embodiment is performed by the image processing unit 4, and when the detailed continuous shooting mode is set for one original N-plane continuous shooting, the read original data is stored in one storage area, The stored data in the one storage area is copied to another storage area in the same storage area group, and when the detailed continuous shooting mode is set for the M original N-side continuous shooting, the original data read for the M originals is respectively set. After being stored in one storage area of the storage area group, the storage data of the one storage area is copied to another storage area in the same storage area group.

  Furthermore, when the high-speed continuous shooting mode is selected on the display / input panel on the operation panel 6, as shown in FIG. 7, an interpolation ratio setting key (interpolation ratio setting means) 65, an interpolation ratio display section are displayed on the display screen. 64 and a printing pattern display section 63 appear. At this time, when the interpolation ratio is adjusted by the interpolation ratio setting key 65, the numerical value of the interpolation ratio corresponding to the vertical amount of the interpolation ratio setting key 65 is displayed on the interpolation ratio display unit 64, and the white line / corresponding to the interpolation ratio is displayed. The printing schematic display unit 63 is displayed with the black line area ratio. When the fine continuous shooting mode is selected, the interpolation ratio setting key 65, the interpolation ratio display unit 64, and the printing schematic display unit 63 are grayed out on the display screen.

  In addition, as a first interpolation ratio adjustment method using the interpolation ratio setting key 65, for example, when all white lines (line data area in which no document data is written) are interpolated to 100%, the interpolation ratio When “50%” is set, data is written every other line (during continuous copying of two originals), and when “25%” is set, data is written every three lines (four originals) When “12%” is set as the state (at the time of continuous shooting), data is written every 7 lines (at the time of continuous shooting of 8 original pages). Note that the setting for setting the interpolation ratio to “100%” is equivalent to the detailed continuous shooting mode, and therefore cannot be set.

  Further, as a second interpolation ratio adjustment method, for example, when the upper limit (100%) of the interpolation ratio is set to the state of continuous shooting of two originals, when the interpolation ratio is set to “100%”, data is stored every other line. As a state of being written (at the time of continuous shooting of two original pages), and when “50%” is set, data is written every three lines (at the time of continuous shooting of four pages of one original) and “25%”. In this state, data is written every 7 lines (during continuous shooting of 8 original pages), and when “12%”, data is written every 15 lines (during continuous shooting of 16 original pages). Will be set as

  For example, in the case of one document four-sided continuous shooting shown in FIG. 8, in the first interpolation ratio adjustment method, if the interpolation ratio is set to 50% or more, i + 4k (i = 1 to 4, k = 0 to Q) The line data is copied to the i + 4k + 2nd line data area, and data is written every other line (during continuous copying on one original), and interpolation is performed. When the ratio is less than 50%, the interpolation process is not performed. When the interpolation ratio is set to 75% or more, the i + 4k (i = 1 to 4, k = 0 to Q) -th line data may be copied to the i + 4k + 1-th or i + 4k + 3-th line data area. good.

  In the second interpolation ratio adjustment method, when the interpolation ratio is set to 100%, the i + 4k (i = 1 to 4, k = 0 to Q) -th line data for the memories of the first to fourth surfaces. Is copied to the i + 4k + 2nd line data area, and data is written every other line (during continuous shooting of two original pages), and interpolation processing is not performed in other settings.

  As described above, in the image forming apparatus and the image forming method of the present embodiment, when the high-speed continuous shooting mode is set, the processing of the first embodiment is performed by the image processing unit 4, and the detailed continuous shooting is performed by N-plane continuous shooting of one original. When the mode is set, the read original data is stored in one storage area, and then the storage data in the one storage area is copied to another storage area in the same storage area group. When the detailed continuous shooting mode is set, the original data read for the M originals is stored in one storage area of each storage area group, and the storage data in the one storage area is then stored in the other storage area group. Therefore, a user-friendly image forming apparatus can be realized according to user selection (user request) with high-speed processing or high image quality.

  Further, in the image forming apparatus and the image forming method of the present embodiment, i + kN (i = 1 to N, i = kN) of the storage area in N-sheet continuous shooting according to the user's interpolation ratio setting when the high-speed continuous shooting mode is set. The k = 0 to Q) th line data is copied to the number of line data areas corresponding to the interpolation ratio in the (N−1) i + kN + h (h = 1 to N−1) th line data areas. In addition, in the M original N-side continuous shooting, for each storage area group, the i + kN (i = 1 to N, k = 0 to Q) -th line data of the storage area is represented by N−1 i + kN + h (h = 1 to N). Since it is copied to the number of line data areas corresponding to the interpolation ratio in the -1th line data area, a single original multi-sided continuous shooting (one original N) while maintaining the image quality desired by the user. (Multi-frame continuous shooting) or multi-manual multi-plane continuous shooting (M original N-side continuous shooting) function It can be realized.

Example 3
In the first embodiment, the continuous shooting when the standard size paper is used for the document has been described. However, the present invention can also be applied to the case where the irregular size paper is used. In the following, an N-side continuous shooting (also referred to as a ticket continuous shooting) of an indeterminate size document will be described as a modification of a single original multi-sided continuous shooting (one original N-side continuous shooting). Although it is technically possible to realize multi-manuscript multi-sided continuous shooting of an irregular-size document, the needs are low.

  In the single-sided multi-sided continuous shooting or the multi-sided multi-sided continuous shooting according to the first embodiment, a standard size original is used. However, it is generally performed to automatically determine the type (A4, B5, etc.) of the standard size original. Therefore, it is not necessary to set the document size. On the other hand, it is not technically impossible to recognize the document size in N-side continuous shooting of an irregular-size document, but it is generally not automatically recognized because of high cost. Even when “ticket continuous shooting” is selected on the operation screen of the display / input panel on the operation panel 6, the screen shifts to a screen display for setting the document size (short side width) and prompts the user to make the setting. That is, the setting by the user is assumed.

  In N-side continuous shooting of an irregular-size document, line data for each line in the main scanning direction of the document is read by the document reading means (image sensor 11) as in the case of single-document N-plane continuous shooting (Example 1). Assuming that reading is performed P times in the sub-scanning direction, the allocation process is performed by i + kN (i = k) of document data read by the image processing unit 4 into storage means (RAM 82 of the storage unit 81) having N storage areas. 1 to N positive integers, k = 0 to Q positive integers; Q = ceiling (P / N): the smallest integer equal to or greater than P / N) i-th line data in the i-th storage area Is done by memorizing as

  FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an assignment process at the time of five-side continuous shooting (ticket continuous shooting) of an irregular-size document. In the case of 5-sided continuous shooting, as shown in the figure, the storage unit 81 is provided with 5 storage areas (memory for the first side to the fifth side) having a capacity of the number of bits for one line × P, and original data Line data of the first line, the sixth line,... Is stored in the memory on the first side, and the second line, the seventh line,. Line data for the first line,... Is stored in the memory on the third side, and the fourth, ninth,... Line data of the original data is stored in the memory on the fourth side, the fifth line, the tenth line,. Data is written to the memory on the fifth page.

  As described above, in the image forming apparatus and the image forming method of the present embodiment, when an N-size original is continuously shot on the N side, the image processing unit 4 performs i + kN (i = 1 to N) of the original data. (Integer, positive integer of k = 0 to Q) -th line data is stored in the i-th storage area as i + kN-th line data. As a result, the amount of data stored in the storage unit 81 is reduced to 1 / N as compared with the prior art, and it is not necessary to copy (copy) the original data on the first side to the memory on the other side. The processing time can be shortened to speed up the processing.

[Modification]
Next, a configuration in which a determination unit (margin determination unit) for determining whether or not all the pixels of the line data are white pixels is added to the image forming apparatus according to the first to third embodiments will be described.

  When this margin determination unit is configured by hardware, for example, the line data from the document reading means (image sensor 11) is temporarily latched in a register or the like, and the data having the same data length as the line data and a value of “0”. A configuration is considered in which a logical sum of bit units is taken, a logical sum of logical sum outputs of all bits is taken, and when the logical sum output is “0: invalid”, all pixels of the line data are determined to be white pixels. It is done.

  In the case of software configuration, it is verified whether the line data is white pixel by pixel, and when all the pixels for one line are determined to be white pixels, it is determined to be a blank line. When a certain pixel is determined to be a black pixel, it may be determined that the pixel is not a blank line and verification of the line data is interrupted.

  When all the pixels in the line data are determined to be white pixel margin lines by the margin determination unit configured as described above, the line data is not stored in the storage unit 81, so that the writing process to the storage unit 81 is performed. Since the process is omitted, the processing speed can be increased. In particular, in a standard document such as a message memo paper in which a blank area in which characters or the like are not described occupies a considerable proportion, the effect of omitting this writing process is great.

It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the stencil printing machine which concerns on a present Example. It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of the stencil printing machine which concerns on a present Example. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an assignment process at the time of continuous shooting of one original and two pages. It is explanatory drawing explaining the allocation process of various continuous shooting. It is explanatory drawing explaining the allocation process of various continuous shootings when using ASIC etc. provided with the continuous shooting function of the main scanning direction. It is explanatory drawing explaining the interpolation process in the case of 1 original 2 surface continuous shooting. It is explanatory drawing which illustrates the display / input panel on the operation panel 6 which performs the mode setting of either a fine continuous shooting mode or a high-speed continuous shooting mode, and the interpolation ratio setting at the time of high-speed continuous shooting mode setting. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining interpolation processing in the case of continuous shooting on one original and four sides. It is explanatory drawing explaining the allocation process at the time of 5 surface continuous shooting (ticket continuous shooting) of an irregular-size original. It is explanatory drawing explaining the allocation process at the time of the conventional 1 document 2 surface continuous shooting.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Stencil printing machine 3 ... A / D conversion part 4 ... Image processing part (control means)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 5 ... Control part 6 ... Operation panel 7 ... Original 10 ... Original reading part 11 ... Image sensor (original reading means)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 ... Plate making writing part 21 ... Thermal head 21a ... Heat generating body 23 ... Stencil base paper 33 ... Drum 40 ... Printing part 43 ... Printing paper 81 ... Memory | storage part 82 ... RAM
83 ... ROM
85: Document reading unit driving circuit 86 ... Plate making / writing unit driving circuit 87 ... Printing unit driving circuit 61 ... High-speed continuous shooting key (mode setting means)
62 ... Fine continuous shooting key (mode setting means)
63 ... Print schematic display section 64 ... Interpolation ratio display section 65 ... Interpolation ratio setting key (interpolation ratio setting means)

Claims (10)

An image forming apparatus provided with a continuous shooting function for allocating and printing M (M is an arbitrary positive integer) sheets of N (N is an arbitrary positive integer satisfying N> M) chamfered sheet. ,
Document reading means for reading line data for each line in the main scanning direction P (P is an arbitrary positive integer) times in the sub scanning direction for each of the M documents.
Storage means having M storage area groups having N storage areas;
I + kN (i = 1 to N positive integer, k = 0 to Q positive integer) of the jth (j = 1 to M positive integer) original data read by the original reading means; Q = ceiling (P / N): a minimum integer equal to or greater than P / N) control means for storing the i th line data as i + kN th line data in the i th storage area of the j th storage area group;
An image forming apparatus comprising: Having mode setting means for setting either the fine continuous shooting mode or the high-speed continuous shooting mode;
The control means performs the process according to claim 1 when the high-speed continuous shooting mode is set.
When the detailed continuous shooting mode is set, the original data read by the original reading unit for the M originals is stored in one storage area of each storage area group, and then the storage data in the one storage area is stored in the same memory. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus copies to another storage area in the area group. An interpolation ratio setting means for setting an interpolation ratio when the high-speed continuous shooting mode is set;
For each storage area group, the control means converts the i + kN (i = 1 to N, k = 0 to Q) -th line data of the storage area into N−1 i + kN + h (h = 1 to N−1 positive values). 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the number of line data areas corresponding to the interpolation ratio in the (integer) th line data area is copied. An image forming apparatus having a continuous shooting function for allocating and printing one original on one printing paper chamfered by N (N is an arbitrary positive integer),
An original reading means for reading line data for each line in the main scanning direction P (P is an arbitrary positive integer) times in the sub scanning direction with respect to the original;
Storage means having N storage areas;
The i + kN (i = 1 to N positive integer, k = 0 to Q positive integer; Q = ceiling (P / N): minimum integer equal to or greater than P / N) th of the original data read by the original reading means Control means for storing line data as i + kN-th line data in the i-th storage area;
An image forming apparatus comprising: When allocating a single document to N (N = 2 ^R ; R is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2) chamfered sheets and continuously shooting,
The storage means has N + S (S = 2 ^{floor (R / 2)} : floor (R / 2) is the largest integer equal to or less than R / 2) storage areas,
The control means stores the original data read by the original reading means in the storage areas N + 1 to N + S of the storage means, respectively, and the data in the storage areas N + 1 to N + S is stored as one intermediate data. Assuming that the intermediate data is T (T = N / S) chamfered in the sub-scanning direction, i + kN (i = 1 to N positive integer, k = 0 to 0) of data in the storage areas from the (N + 1) th to the (N + S) th storage area Positive integer of Q; Q = ceiling (P / N): the smallest integer equal to or greater than P / N) i + kN in the storage areas from 1 + gS (g = 0 to T−1) th to S + gSth respectively The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the image forming apparatus stores the second line data. Having mode setting means for setting either the fine continuous shooting mode or the high-speed continuous shooting mode;
When the high-speed continuous shooting mode is set, the control means performs the process according to claim 4 or 5,
2. When the detailed continuous shooting mode is set, document data read by the document reading unit is stored in one storage area, and then the storage data in the one storage area is copied to another storage area. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4 or 5. An interpolation ratio setting means for setting an interpolation ratio when the high-speed continuous shooting mode is set;
The control means converts the i + kN (i = 1 to N, k = 0 to Q) th line data of the storage area into N−1 i + kN + h (h = 1 to N−1) th line data. 7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the image data is copied to the number of line data areas corresponding to the interpolation ratio in the area. Determining means for determining whether all the pixels of the line data are white pixels;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit does not store line data in which all pixels are determined to be white pixels in the storage unit. It has a continuous shooting function that prints by assigning M (M is an arbitrary positive integer) sheets of N (N is an arbitrary positive integer satisfying N> M) chamfered printing paper, and having N storage areas An image forming method of an image forming apparatus including a storage unit having M storage area groups,
An original reading step of reading line data for each line in the main scanning direction P (P is an arbitrary positive integer) times in the sub-scanning direction for each of the M originals;
I + kN (i = 1-N positive integer, k = 0-Q positive integer) of the jth (j = 1-M positive integer) original data read in the original reading step; Q = ceiling (P / N): the smallest integer greater than or equal to P / N) a control step of storing the i th line data as i + kN th line data in the i th storage area of the j th storage area group;
An image forming method comprising: Image formation of an image forming apparatus provided with a continuous shooting function for allocating and printing one original on one printing paper chamfered with N (N is an arbitrary positive integer) and having N storage areas A method,
A document reading step of reading line data for each line in the main scanning direction P (P is an arbitrary positive integer) times in the sub scanning direction with respect to the document;
The i + kN (i = 1 to N positive integer, k = 0 to Q positive integer; Q = ceiling (P / N): smallest integer equal to or greater than P / N) th of the original data read by the original reading step A control step of storing line data as i + kN-th line data in the i-th storage area;
An image forming method comprising:

Images