JP2010136048A - Image forming apparatus and image formation program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus, capable of outputting a medium with an image formed thereon, while aligning holes belonging to the medium, and an image formation program. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming apparatus includes a placing means for placing a printing medium on which an image is printed; a detecting means for detecting the direction of holes belonging to the printing medium placed by the placing means; a forming means for forming an image by printing the image on the printing medium placed on the placing means; an outputting means for outputting the printing medium on which the forming means forms the image; a carrying means for carrying the printing medium placed by the placing means from the placing means to the forming means and carrying the printing medium on which the forming means forms the image from the forming means to the outputting means; and a carrying control means for changing the direction of the holes, belonging to the printing medium to a predetermined direction, on the basis of the direction of the holes detected by the detecting means and controlling the carrying means so as to carry the printing medium, from the forming means to the outputting means. According to this procedure, the direction of the holes belonging to the printing medium with the image formed thereon can be aligned in a predetermined direction and output the printing medium. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and an image forming program.

In recent years, an image forming apparatus capable of forming an image in a predetermined direction with respect to a punch hole formed in a printing sheet has been known (for example, Patent Document 1).
The image reading apparatus detects a position of a punch hole previously punched in a recording medium such as a printing paper, and performs predetermined image processing based on the position of the punch hole detected by the detection means. And control means for outputting the processed image data to the image forming unit.

JP-A-11-341255

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus and an image forming program capable of aligning and outputting holes of a medium on which an image is formed.

  An image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes a stacking unit that stacks a print medium on which an image is printed, a detection unit that detects a direction of a hole of the print medium stacked on the stacking unit, and a print medium stacked on the stacking unit. Forming means for printing and forming an image on the printer, output means for outputting the print medium on which the forming means has formed an image, and the print medium loaded on the stacking means is transported from the stacking means to the forming means, A printing medium formed on the printing medium by changing the orientation of the holes of the printing medium to a predetermined direction based on the orientation of the holes detected by the detection means; And a conveyance control means for controlling the conveyance means so as to convey to the output means.

  In the above configuration, the apparatus further includes needle binding means for binding a predetermined position of the print medium output by the output means with a needle, and the conveyance control means directs the direction of the hole of the print medium to the position where the needle binding means binds. It is possible to adopt a configuration in which the conveying means is controlled so as to be changed and conveyed to the output means.

  In the above configuration, the rotating unit that rotates the image formed by the forming unit so that the conveying unit faces upward with respect to the direction of the hole of the print medium that is transported to the forming unit, and the image that is rotated by the rotating unit is printed. It is possible to adopt a configuration further comprising formation control means for controlling the forming means so as to form the medium.

  In the above configuration, the image forming device further includes an image acquiring unit that acquires an image formed by the forming unit in association with a page number of the image, the rotating unit rotates the image acquired by the image acquiring unit, and the formation control unit acquires the image The forming means controls the forming means to form the image rotated by the rotating means on the upper surface of the print medium in the descending order of the page numbers acquired by the means, and the conveyance control means prints from the stacking means to the forming means without changing the front and back sides. The conveying means controls the medium so as to convey the medium, and the output means outputs the other printing medium with the surface on which the image is formed on the printing medium outputted by the forming means with the surface on which the image is formed facing up. Can be adopted.

  In the above configuration, the conveyance control unit controls the conveyance unit to convey the printing medium from the stacking unit to the formation unit by changing the front and back so that the direction of the hole is upward with respect to the image formed by the formation unit. Can be adopted.

  In the above configuration, an image acquisition unit that acquires an image formed by the formation unit in association with the page number of the image, and an input unit that inputs a signal that instructs the output unit to output the image-formed surface downward. And a forming control means for controlling the forming means so as to form an image on the print medium transported by the transporting means in ascending order of the page numbers acquired by the image acquiring means. The conveying means is controlled so as to convey the print medium from the forming means to the output means so that the formed surface is in the direction input by the input means. The output means inputs the surface on which the forming means has formed an image to the input means. It is possible to employ a configuration in which another print medium is output in the direction input by the input unit on the print medium output in the above-described direction.

  In the above configuration, the storage unit stores information for identifying the stacking unit and the information indicating the orientation of the hole detected by the detection unit of the print medium stacked on the stacking unit, and the print medium stored by the storage unit And determining means for determining whether or not the conveying means needs to be changed by conveying on the basis of the direction of the hole, and the conveying control means does not require the determining means to change the front and back. It is possible to employ a configuration in which the conveying unit is controlled to convey the print medium to the forming unit from the stacking unit that identifies the information stored in the storage unit in association with the orientation of the hole of the print medium determined to be.

  An image forming program according to the present invention stores a computer in association with information for identifying a stacking unit for stacking a print medium on which an image is printed and information indicating a direction of a hole of the print medium stacked on the stacking unit. A storage unit that transports the print medium from a forming unit that prints and forms an image on a print medium stacked on the stacking unit to an output unit that outputs the print medium on which the image is formed. The hole acquisition means for acquiring the hole orientation represented by the information stored in the storage means in association with the information for identifying the stacking means for acquiring the image, and the forming means formed an image based on the hole orientation acquired by the hole acquisition means. The direction of the holes of the print medium is changed to a predetermined direction, and the print medium is made to function as a conveyance control unit that controls the conveyance unit to convey from the forming unit to the output unit. .

  According to the configuration of the first aspect, the direction of the hole of the print medium on which the image is formed can be output in a predetermined direction.

  According to the structure of Claim 2, the direction of the hole which a printing medium has can be output toward the position bound with a needle | hook.

  According to the configuration of the third aspect, an image facing upward with respect to the hole can be formed on the print medium without rotating the print medium.

  According to the configuration of the fourth aspect, without changing the front and back sides of the print medium, it is possible to efficiently output the print medium on which the image facing upward with respect to the holes is overlapped in the order of page numbers.

  According to the configuration of the fifth aspect, it is possible to form an image facing upward with respect to the hole on the print medium without rotating the image.

  According to the configuration of the sixth aspect, it is possible to output the print media in the page number order with the surface on which the image is formed facing downward.

  According to the structure of Claim 7, an image can be formed efficiently using the printing medium which does not need to change the front and back.

  According to the configuration of the eighth aspect, the direction of the holes of the print medium on which the image is formed can be output in a predetermined direction.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating an embodiment of an image forming system 1 including an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.
An image forming system 1 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a communication network 10, an image forming apparatus 100, and terminal apparatuses 201 and 202.
The communication network 10 includes, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network), a WAN (Wide Area Network), a MAN (Metropolitan Area Network), or a public network, and can communicate between the image forming apparatus 100 and the terminal apparatuses 201 and 202. Connect to.

  Before describing the image forming apparatus 100, the terminal apparatuses 201 and 202 will be described. Since the terminal devices 201 and 202 have the same configuration, the terminal device 201 will be mainly described. The terminal device 201 is composed of, for example, a personal computer. The terminal device 201 is connected to the image forming apparatus 100 via the communication network 10. The terminal device 201 transmits information representing an image to the image forming apparatus 100 according to a standard such as TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) or G3 or G4.

  The image forming apparatus 100 is connected to the terminal devices 201 and 202 via the communication network 10. The image forming apparatus 100 forms, for example, an image acquisition function (that is, a scan function) for optically reading a document to acquire a document image representing the document, and an image represented by the read image or information received from the terminal device 201. The image forming function (that is, the print function) is configured by a copier or a multifunction peripheral.

Here, the configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram illustrating a configuration example of the image forming apparatus 100.
2 includes an image acquisition unit 110, a stacking unit 120, a detection unit 130, an image forming unit 140, an output unit 150, a needle binding unit 160, a conveyance unit 170, a control unit 180, and an input unit 190. Composed.

  The image acquisition unit 110 is configured with a scanner, for example. The image acquisition unit 110 is connected to the control unit 180. The image acquisition unit 110 performs a scan function to acquire a document image in association with the page number of the document image. Further, the image acquisition unit 110 outputs the acquired image and page number to the control unit 180. Further, the image acquisition unit 110 may be configured by, for example, a FAX modem or a LAN card, and may acquire a document image and a page number of the document image from the connected terminal device 201 according to a predetermined protocol.

  The stacking unit 120 is configured with a tray, for example. The tray is classified into a built-in tray built in the image forming apparatus 100 and an external tray installed outside the image forming apparatus 100. The stacking unit 120 is connected to the transport unit 170. The stacking unit 120 stacks a print medium on which an image is printed. The print medium includes, for example, paper used for printing an image, a plastic card, a wooden board, and a cloth, and has at least two or more surfaces. The print medium stacked on the stacking unit 120 is transported to the image forming unit 140 by the transport unit 170.

  The detection unit 130 is configured by an optical sensor, for example. The detection unit 130 is installed at a position where the position or orientation of the hole of the print medium stacked on the stacking unit 120 can be detected. As a specific example of the position where the detection unit 130 is installed, for example, an upper or lower side of the print medium loaded on the stacking unit 120, or a conveyance path for conveying the print medium loaded on the stacking unit 120 can be cited. Note that the holes of the print medium include so-called punch holes. The punch hole is, for example, a hole through which a binder or string for binding paper is inserted. Moreover, the direction of the hole is classified as rightward or leftward. The right-facing hole refers to a hole in a direction in which the print medium is conveyed in the image forming unit 140 described later, rather than the center of the print medium. Similarly, a left-facing hole refers to a hole in a direction opposite to the direction of conveyance from the center. In the present embodiment, the print medium is described as having two holes, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a configuration having a single hole or three or more holes can be adopted.

  The image forming unit 140 is configured by a printer, for example. The image forming unit 140 is connected to the transport unit 170 and the control unit 180. The image forming unit 140 prints the image acquired from the control unit 180 on a predetermined surface of the printing medium conveyed from the stacking unit 120 by the conveying unit 170 without changing the direction and the front and back of the hole. Form. In this embodiment, the predetermined surface is described as the upper surface, but the present invention is not limited to this. Note that the print medium on which the image forming unit 140 has formed an image is transported to the output unit 150 by the transport unit 170.

The output unit 150 is configured with an output port, for example. The output unit 150 is connected to the transport unit 170. The output unit 150 outputs the print medium transported from the image forming unit 140 by the transport unit 170 as it is without changing the transport direction and the front and back. Further, the output unit 150 outputs another print medium superimposed on the output print medium.
The staple unit 160 is configured by a stapler, for example. The needle binding unit 160 is controlled by the control unit 180 and binds a predetermined position of the print medium output by the output unit 150 with a needle.

  The transport unit 170 includes, for example, a transport path that transports a print medium and a feed roll. The transport unit 170 is connected to the stacking unit 120, the image forming unit 140, the output unit 150, and the control unit 180. The conveyance unit 170 is controlled by the control unit 180 to convey the print medium accumulated in the stacking unit 120 from the stacking unit 120 to the image forming unit 140. The transport unit 170 is controlled by the control unit 180 to transport the print medium on which the image is formed by the image forming unit 140 from the image forming unit 140 to the output unit 150. The transport unit 170 may be transported so as to change the front and back of the print medium under the control of the control unit 180. This case and a transport method for changing the front and back will be described later.

Before describing the control unit 180, the input unit 190 will be described.
The input unit 190 is configured with, for example, a touch panel or a mechanical switch. The input unit 190 is connected to the control unit 180. The input unit 190 is operated by a user who uses the image forming apparatus 100 and inputs the following various signals to the control unit 180. In particular, the input unit 190 inputs a signal instructing the output unit 150 to output the image-formed surface downward or a signal instructing to output upward.
The control unit 180 is configured by a microcomputer, for example. The control unit 180 is connected to the image acquisition unit 110, the detection unit 130, the image forming unit 140, the needle binding unit 160, the transport unit 170, and the input unit 190. The control unit 180 executes software processing.

Next, with reference to FIG. 2B, a configuration example of hardware used for the control unit 180 to execute software processing will be described. FIG. 2B is a hardware configuration diagram illustrating a configuration example of the control unit 180.
2B includes, for example, an execution unit 180a configured by a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), or the like. Read-only storage device 180b configured, readable memory device 180c configured with volatile memory such as DRAM (Dynamic RAM) or SRAM (Static RAM) and nonvolatile memory such as NVRAM (Non Volatile RAM), and input / output The execution unit 180a, the read-only storage device 180b, the readable storage device 180c, and the input / output unit 180e are connected to each other via a bus 180f.

  The software processing is realized by the execution unit 180a reading a program stored in the read-only storage device 180b and executing an operation according to the read program. Note that the calculation result data is written in the readable storage device 180c, and especially the NVRAM stores data that needs to be backed up when the power is turned off. The calculation result is input / output to / from another unit or device connected via the input / output unit 180e.

The control unit 180 controls the image acquisition unit 110, the image forming unit 140, and the conveyance unit 170 based on a signal representing the direction of the hole acquired from the detection unit 130 by executing a control process that is a software process. .
Here, the control process executed by the control unit 180 will be outlined with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example of a control process executed by the control unit 180.

The table shown in FIG. 3 is a table showing the control contents and the execution conditions of the control process executed to realize the control contents in association with each other. Specifically, the table shown in FIG. 3 includes a number field, a tray position field, a hole direction field, a productivity priority field, and a discharged paper surface priority field.
The number field will be described later. The tray position field stores information indicating the type of the stacking unit 120. Specifically, the information indicating the type of the stacking unit 120 includes information indicating whether it is a built-in tray or an external tray. The hole direction field stores information indicating the direction of holes of the print medium stacked on the stacking unit 120. The number field stores information for identifying the print medium to be used. Specifically, the number field stores a number for identifying the print medium loaded in the tray of the type represented by the information stored in the tray position field and having the orientation represented by the information stored in the hole orientation field. The execution condition is determined by the position and direction of the tray and whether or not priority is given to productivity described later.

  The productivity priority field stores information representing the control content prioritizing productivity. The productivity priority field has a rotation / dup path (also referred to as Rotation / DupPath) field, a discharge field, and a print order field. The rotation / duplex path field represents information indicating whether or not to perform rotation processing (that is, rotation), and whether or not to perform transport control processing for controlling the transport unit 170 to transport the print medium using the duplex path. To save the information.

  Note that the rotation refers to a process of rotating the image formed by the image forming unit 140 so that the transport unit 170 faces upward with respect to the direction of the hole of the print medium transported to the image forming unit 140. The direction of the image is upward with respect to the direction of the hole. When the print medium is placed so that the hole formed in the print medium is on the upper side, the image formed on the print medium is upward ( In other words, it does not turn upside down or sideways). The duplex path refers to a conveyance path used by the conveyance unit 170 to change the surface of the print medium on which an image is printed with respect to the image forming unit 140, for example, by turning the print medium over.

Here, referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the orientation of the holes of the print medium conveyed to the image forming unit 140 will be described, and then the rotation process executed by the control unit 180 will be described with reference to FIG. 6. The conveyance control process will be outlined. The conveyance control process is a process that constitutes the control process, and refers to a process that controls the conveyance unit 170 so that the conveyance path is a duplex path. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the orientation of holes in the print medium conveyed from the built-in tray to the image forming unit 140.
The stacking unit 120 included in the image forming apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 4 includes built-in trays T1 to T4 and external trays T5 and T6. Since the built-in trays T1 to T4 have almost the same configuration, only the built-in tray T1 will be described. The built-in tray T1 is loaded with print media with the holes facing left.
The image forming unit 140 forms an image facing the direction in which the transport unit 170 transports the print medium on the upper surface of the transported print medium.
The transport unit 170 uses the transport paths R1 and R3 to invert the print medium with the holes stacked in the built-in tray T1 facing left (that is, change the front and back) and transport the print medium to the image forming unit 140. As a result, the conveyance unit 170 changes the direction of the hole from left to right and conveys the image to the image forming unit 140. When the built-in tray T1 loads a print medium facing right, the transport unit 170 changes the hole direction from right to left and transports the print medium to the image forming unit 140.

Next, with reference to FIG. 5, the orientation of the holes of the print medium conveyed from the external tray to the image forming unit 140 will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the orientation of holes in the print medium conveyed from the external tray to the image forming unit 140.
The image forming apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 5 is the same as the image forming apparatus 100 shown in FIG. Since the external trays T5 and T6 have substantially the same configuration, only the external tray T5 will be described. The external tray T5 is loaded with print media with the holes facing right.
The transport unit 170 transports the print medium with the holes facing rightward from the external tray T5 to the image forming unit 140 using the transport paths R2 and R3 without inverting (that is, without changing the front and back sides). That is, the transport unit 170 transports the hole to the image forming unit 140 with the direction of the hole facing right. When the external tray T5 is loaded with a print medium facing left, the transport unit 170 transports the print medium to the image forming unit 140 with the hole direction facing left.

Next, the rotation process executed by the control unit 180 will be outlined with reference to FIG. FIG. 6A is a diagram for explaining an example of the rotation process executed by the control unit 180.
As described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, the control unit 180 (not shown) prints the built-in tray T <b> 1 loaded with a right-facing print medium on the image forming unit 140 illustrated in FIG. The transport unit 170 is controlled so as to transport the print medium with the hole facing leftward from the external tray T5 loaded with the medium. Further, the control unit 180 rotates the image directed in the direction in which the print medium is conveyed (that is, the right side) by 180 degrees, and performs rotation processing (that is, rotation) so that the image is directed in the opposite direction. Thereafter, the control unit 180 controls the image forming unit 140 so that the rotated left image is printed on the print medium with the hole facing left. That is, the image forming unit 140 forms an image that faces upward with respect to the direction of the hole.

Next, with reference to FIG. 6B, the conveyance control process executed by the control unit 180 will be outlined. FIG. 6B is a diagram for explaining an example of the conveyance control process executed by the control unit 180.
As described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, the control unit 180 controls the transport unit 170 to transport the print medium from the built-in tray or the external tray to the image forming unit 140 with or without changing the direction of the holes. Control. Next, the control unit 180 controls the transport unit 170 to transport the same print medium again to the image forming unit 140 by changing the front and back of the print medium. Specifically, the control unit 180 controls the transport unit 170 to transport the print medium using the following duplex paths R3 and R5 to R7.

  That is, the control unit 180 controls the transport unit 170 to further transport the print medium transported once using the transport path R3 using the transport paths R5 and R6 in order. Next, the control unit 180 controls to convey the print medium in the reverse direction using the conveyance path R6 again. Thereafter, the control unit 180 performs control so that the same print medium is conveyed again to the image forming unit 140 using the conveyance paths R7 and R3 in order. That is, the control unit 180 controls the transport unit 170 to change the direction of the hole in the reverse direction by turning the print medium over.

Here, returning to FIG. 3, the control processing executed by the control unit 180 will be outlined.
The discharge field stores information representing invert discharge or straight discharge. The print order field stores information representing the print order. Specifically, for example, when printing in ascending order of page numbers, such as printing from the first page to the last page in order, the characters “1-N” are stored, otherwise Save the letter “N-1”.

Here, the straight discharge will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7A is a diagram illustrating an example of straight discharge.
The transport unit 170 is controlled by the control unit 180 and transports the image from the image forming unit 140 to the output unit 150 without changing the front and back of the print medium on which the image is formed. Specifically, the transport unit 170 transports the print medium using the transport paths R3 and R4 in order. The output unit 150 outputs the conveyed print medium without changing the front and back sides. That is, straight discharge means discharge (output) without changing the front and back of the print medium on which the image is formed (that is, without turning over).
Note that when the image forming apparatus 100 performs straight discharge without changing the front and back of the print medium, the control unit 180 forms the image in order from the image with the largest page number (that is, in descending order of the page number). To control. This is because the image forming unit 140 prints an image on the upper surface of the print medium, and the output unit 150 outputs other print media in the same manner on the print medium already output with the surface on which the image is formed facing up. Because.

Next, invert discharge will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7B is a diagram illustrating an example of invert discharge.
The transport unit 170 is controlled by the control unit 180 and transports the print medium on which the image is formed from the image forming unit 140 to the output unit 150 by changing the front and back sides. Specifically, the transport unit 170 further transports the print medium once transported using the transport path R3 using the transport paths R5 and R6 in order. Next, the transport unit 170 uses the transport paths R5 and R6 in the reverse order again to transport the print medium in the reverse direction, and then transports the print medium to the output unit 150 using the transport path R4. That is, the conveyance unit 170 changes the direction of the hole to the reverse direction and conveys it to the output unit 150.

Note that the output unit 150 outputs the printed print medium without changing the front and back, similarly to the straight discharge. In other words, invert discharge refers to discharge (output) by changing the front and back of a print medium on which an image is formed (that is, turning over).
In addition, when the image forming apparatus 100 performs invert discharge for changing the front and back of the print medium, the control unit 180 forms the image in order from the image with the smallest page number (that is, in ascending order of the page number). To control. This is because the image forming unit 140 prints an image on the upper surface of the print medium, and the transport unit 170 transports the print medium to the output unit 150 by changing the front and back sides. That is, the output unit 150 outputs the other print medium in the same manner on the print medium that has already been output with the image-formed side down.

  Note that when the orientation of the print medium hole in the image forming unit 140 is in a position where the print medium of the staple binding unit 160 is bound with a needle (hereinafter simply referred to as a staple binding position), the control unit 180 performs straight discharge. The conveyance unit 170 is controlled so as to perform, and if not, the invert discharge is performed to control the direction of the hole.

Here, returning to FIG. 3, the control processing executed by the control unit 180 will be continuously outlined.
The paper discharge surface designation priority field stores information indicating the control content prioritizing the specification of the paper discharge surface. It has a rotation / duplication path field, a discharge field, and a print order field. The rotation / duplication path field, the discharge field, and the print order field that constitute the discharge surface designation priority field are the same as the fields that constitute the productivity priority field, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

Next, the configuration of the control unit 180 will be described with reference to the function with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the control unit 180.
The control unit 180 includes a storage unit 181, a registration unit 182, a hole acquisition unit 183, a determination unit 184, a rotation unit 185, a formation control unit 186, and a conveyance control unit 187.
The storage unit 181 includes, for example, a readable storage device 180c. The storage unit 181 is connected to the image acquisition unit 110, the registration unit 182, the hole acquisition unit 183, and the determination unit 184. The storage unit 181 stores information that identifies the trays that form the stacking unit 120 and information that represents the orientation of the holes of the print medium stacked on the trays in association with each other.

Here, the information stored in the storage unit 181 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of information stored in the storage unit 181.
The table shown in FIG. 9A has a priority field and a tray field. The tray field will be described before the priority field. The tray field stores information for identifying the tray. The priority field stores a priority that indicates the degree of switching to other trays in an ATS (Auto Tray Switch) process. The ATS process is a process executed by the control unit 180 in order to switch a tray (hereinafter simply referred to as a feed tray) from which the transport unit 170 acquires a print medium. The ATS process will be described later.

  The table shown in FIG. 9B has a tray field, a paper type field, a tray position field, a hole position field, and a pre-punch priority field. The tray field stores the same information as the information stored in the tray field included in the table shown in FIG. The paper type field stores information indicating whether the print medium loaded on the tray identified by the information stored in the tray field already has holes (that is, pre-punched). The tray position field stores information indicating whether the tray is an internal tray or an external tray. The hole position field stores information indicating the position or orientation of the hole. In FIG. 9, the left-facing hole is displayed as “rear hole”, and the right-facing hole is displayed as “front hole”. The pre-punch priority field stores the pre-punch priority. Note that the pre-punch priority stores a priority indicating the degree to which priority is given to switching to another tray in ATS processing when an image is formed on a print medium in which holes have already been formed (that is, pre-punched). . Therefore, the table shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B is hereinafter simply referred to as an ATS table. Although not shown in the table of FIG. 9B, information for identifying the tray, information indicating the number of print media stacked on the tray such as the number of remaining sheets, for example, sheet size, and the like. Is stored in association with information representing the shape of the print medium.

The table shown in FIG. 9C has a priority field, a tray field, and a paper type field. The priority field stores a priority indicating the degree of selection as a tray that supplies print media in preference to other trays in APS (Auto Paper Select) processing. Note that the APS process refers to a process in which the transport unit 170 selects a tray from which a print medium is acquired based on the necessity of transporting the print medium such as a print sheet upside down. The APS process will be described later. The table shown in FIG. 9C is hereinafter simply referred to as an APS table.
The tray field and the paper type field are the same as the tray field and the paper type field included in the table shown in FIG. The storage unit 181 stores the following various types of information in addition to the information shown in FIG. As an example of the following various types of information, the storage unit 181 stores the image acquired by the image acquisition unit 110 and the page number of the image in association with each other.

Next, returning to FIG. 8, the configuration of the control unit 180 will be described.
The registration unit 182 is realized by the execution unit 180a executing registration processing. The registration unit 182 is connected to the detection unit 130, the storage unit 181, and the input unit 190. The registration unit 182 associates information for identifying the tray constituting the stacking unit 120 with information indicating the orientation of the hole of the print medium stacked on the tray detected by the detection unit 130 or input by the input unit. 181 is registered. Note that the registration unit 182 does not register the information indicating the hole direction for the trays already registered in association with the information indicating the hole direction. In addition, when the tray is pulled out or when the print medium runs out of the tray, the registration unit 182 deletes information indicating the hole direction associated with the information indicating the tray from the storage unit 181. The registration unit 182 can employ a configuration in which setting information is registered in the storage unit 181. The setting information refers to information for setting a control process executed by the control unit 180. For example, the conveyance unit 170 and the image forming unit 140 are controlled so as to form and output an image with priority given to the designation of productivity or discharge surface. Contains information to set.

  The hole acquisition unit 183 is realized by the execution unit 180a executing the hole acquisition process. The hole acquisition unit 183 is connected to the storage unit 181 and the determination unit 184. The hole acquisition unit 183 acquires the orientation of the hole of the print medium loaded on the tray from which the transport unit 170 acquires the print medium. Specifically, the orientation of the hole represented by the information stored in the storage unit 181 is acquired in association with the information for identifying the tray from which the transport unit 170 acquires the print medium. The transport unit 170 associates the acquired information for identifying the tray with the information indicating the direction of the hole and outputs the information to the determination unit 184.

  The determination unit 184 is realized by the execution unit 180a executing the determination process. The determination unit 184 is connected to the storage unit 181, the hole acquisition unit 183, the rotation unit 185, the formation control unit 186, and the conveyance control unit 187. The determination unit 184 determines whether or not the transport unit 170 needs to change the front and back of the print medium by transport based on the hole orientation acquired from the hole acquisition unit 183.

Specifically, first, the determination unit 184 determines whether to give priority to productivity or to specify the discharge paper surface based on setting information stored in the storage unit 181.
Next, when it is determined that productivity is prioritized, the determination unit 184 selects a conveyance path with the shortest conveyance path from among selectable conveyance paths. However, the transport path that can be selected refers to a transport path that is used for transporting so that the direction of the hole of the output print medium is directed to the staple position (in this embodiment, the left direction). More specifically, the normal transport paths R1, R2, and R3 are shorter in distance than the duplex paths R3 and R5 to R7. Invert discharge is shorter in distance than using a duplex path and straight discharge to change the direction of the hole. For this reason, the determination unit 184 does not select a conveyance path using a duplex path. Therefore, the determination unit 184 determines whether or not it is necessary to invert and discharge the print medium transported through the normal transport path (that is, whether or not the front and back sides need to be changed), and determines whether the print medium loaded on the tray has a hole. Judgment based on the direction.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that priority is given to the specification of the discharged paper surface, the determination unit 184 is a transport route used for outputting the specified discharged paper surface in the specified direction among the selectable transport routes. In addition, a transport path that shortens the transport path is selected. To describe with a specific example, the determination unit 184 determines that invert discharge is necessary when it is determined that priority is given to the designation of discharging paper with the image-formed side down.

  Further, the determination unit 184 determines whether or not a rotation process is necessary when controlling the print medium to be conveyed according to the selected conveyance path. Specifically, it is necessary to perform a rotation process for rotating the image by 180 degrees based on the direction of the image stored in the storage unit 181, the direction of the hole of the print medium on which the tray is stacked, and whether or not to use a duplex path. Determine whether or not.

  Further, the determination unit 184 determines whether or not it is necessary to control the image forming unit 140 to form an image in ascending order of page numbers (young order) when performing control according to the selected transport path. . Specifically, when performing invert discharge, it is necessary to control the image forming unit 140 to form images in ascending order of page numbers. When performing straight discharge, images are formed in descending order of page numbers. Judge that it is necessary to control. Thereafter, the determination unit 184 outputs the determination result to the rotation unit 185, the formation control unit 186, and the conveyance control unit 187.

  The rotation unit 185 is realized by the execution unit 180a executing a rotation process. The rotation unit 185 is connected to the determination unit 184 and the formation control unit 186. The rotation unit 185 performs rotation processing based on the determination result output from the determination unit 184. Specifically, when the determination unit 184 determines that the rotation process needs to be performed, the rotation unit 185 prints the image stored in the storage unit 181 to be transferred to the image forming unit 140 by the transfer unit 170. It rotates so that it may become upward with respect to the direction of the hole which a medium has. Thereafter, the rotation unit 185 outputs the image subjected to the rotation process to the formation control unit 186 in association with the page number. If the determination unit 184 determines that it is not necessary to execute the rotation process, the image stored in the storage unit 181 is output to the formation control unit 186 without being rotated.

  The formation control unit 186 is realized by the execution unit 180a executing the formation control process. The formation control unit 186 is connected to the image forming unit 140, the determination unit 184, and the rotation unit 185. The formation control unit 186 controls the image forming unit 140 so that the image rotated by the rotation unit 185 is formed on the print medium. Further, the formation control unit 186 controls the image forming unit 140 to form the image acquired from the rotation unit 185 on the print medium in the page order determined by the determination unit 184.

  The conveyance control unit 187 is realized by the execution unit 180a executing the conveyance control process. The conveyance control unit 187 is connected to the conveyance unit 170 and the determination unit 184. The conveyance control unit 187 controls the conveyance unit 170 to convey the print medium along the conveyance path determined by the determination unit 184. Specifically, the conveyance control unit 187 controls the conveyance unit 170 so that the direction of the hole of the print medium is directed to the staple binding position and conveyed to the output unit 150 for straight discharge or invert discharge. .

Next, a control process executed by the control unit 180 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a control process executed by the control unit 180. The control unit 180 executes control processing when a signal instructing image formation is acquired from the input unit 190.
First, the control unit 180 determines whether or not pre-punched paper is designated (step S01). Specifically, control unit 180 determines whether or not pre-punched paper is designated as a print medium on which an image is formed, based on a signal input by input unit 190. When determining that the pre-punched paper is designated, the control unit 180 ends the process of step S02, and otherwise ends the process.

  If it is determined in step S01 that pre-punched paper has been designated, the control unit 180 acquires tray information related to the feed tray (hereinafter simply referred to as feed tray information) by executing an APS process described later (step S01). S02). The tray information is information that associates information for identifying a tray with information indicating the direction of a hole of a print medium loaded on the tray.

  After executing step S02 or after executing step S10, control unit 180 determines whether there is a feed tray identified by the tray information (step S03). If the control unit 180 determines that there is a feed tray, the control unit 180 executes the process of step 04; otherwise, the process ends.

  If it is determined in step S03 that a feed tray is present, or if it is determined in step S09 that printing paper is present in the feed tray and the image productivity is not low, the control unit 180 forms an image. It is determined whether or not the job to be completed has ended (step S04). As a specific example, it is determined whether or not the designated number of copies has been formed for all the designated pages. In addition, the structure which the input part 190 inputs as a signal for these instructions can be employ | adopted. If the control unit 180 determines that the job has ended, the control unit 180 ends the execution of the process. If not, the control unit 180 executes the process of step S05.

  If the control unit 180 determines in step S04 that the job has not ended, it feeds the print medium from the feed tray (step S05). Next, the control unit 180 determines whether or not detection of a hole is necessary (step S06). Specifically, when the storage unit 181 does not store the identification information for identifying the feed tray and the information indicating the orientation of the hole of the print medium loaded on the feed tray in association with each other, the control unit 180 sets the hole Is determined to be necessary. The control unit 180 executes the process of step S07 when determining that the detection of the hole is necessary, and executes the process of step S09 otherwise.

  In step S06, when the control unit 180 determines that the detection of the hole is necessary, the control unit 180 acquires a signal indicating the position or orientation of the hole of the print medium from the detection unit 130 (step S07). Next, the control unit 180 registers information indicating the hole position or hole direction in the storage unit 181 in association with information indicating the feed tray (step S08).

  After executing step S08 or in step S06, if the control unit 180 determines that the detection of the hole is unnecessary, it is determined whether the print medium is not stacked on the feed tray or the productivity is low. Is determined (step S09). As a specific example, if it is determined that the number of print media that form and output an image per unit time is less than a predetermined threshold, it is determined that the productivity is low. When the control unit 180 determines that the print medium is not stacked on the feed tray or the productivity is low, the control unit 180 executes the process of step S10.

  In addition, when it is determined that the print medium is loaded on the feed tray and the productivity is high, the control unit 180 applies the rotation specified to the print medium loaded on the feed tray according to the APS process. The image forming unit 140 is controlled to rotate the image and form the rotated image according to the printing order, and the transport unit 170 is controlled to transport the print medium on which the image has been formed according to the discharge method specified in the APS process. The process for rotating the image corresponds to a rotation process for realizing the rotation unit 185, the process for controlling the image forming unit 140 corresponds to a formation control process for realizing the formation control unit 186, and controls the transport unit 170. This process corresponds to a conveyance control process that realizes the conveyance control unit 187. Thereafter, the control unit 180 returns to step 04 and repeats the above process.

In step S09, when it is determined that the print medium is not stacked on the feed tray or the productivity is low, the control unit 180 executes an ATS process to be described later, thereby replacing the print medium with the print medium. Tray information (hereinafter simply referred to as alternative tray information) relating to the alternative tray that supplies the paper (step S10). Thereafter, the control unit 180 repeats the execution of the above-described processing from step S03 using the alternative tray as the feed tray and the feed tray information as the alternative tray information.
Note that the processing in step S08 corresponds to registration processing for realizing the registration unit 182.

  Next, with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12, the APS process executed by the control unit 180 when productivity is prioritized will be described. FIG. 11 is a part of a flowchart showing an example of an APS process executed by the control unit 180 when productivity is prioritized. FIG. 12 shows an APS executed by the control unit 180 when productivity is prioritized. It is the other part of the flowchart showing an example of a process.

  First, the control unit 180 determines whether or not a row to be read (hereinafter simply referred to as a target row) is the end of the APS table (step S11). The control unit 180 executes the process of step S24 when it is determined that the target line is the end, and executes the process of step S12 when it is not.

  If it is determined in step S11 that the target row is not the end, the control unit 180 stores the same information as the identification information for identifying the tray stored in the target row of the APS target table, as shown in FIG. 9B. Tray information is acquired from the ATS table (step S12). Note that the control unit 180 acquires the tray information as the target rows to be read in order from the rows with the higher priority (smaller numbers) stored in the APS table. Next, the control unit 180 determines whether or not the type of print medium loaded on the tray identified by the tray information (hereinafter simply referred to as the target tray) is pre-punched (step S13). If the control unit 180 determines that the print medium is pre-punched, the control unit 180 executes the process of step S14. If not, the control unit 180 changes the processing target line to a line storing the next highest priority. Then, the process returns to step S11 and the above process is repeated.

  In step S13, when the control unit 180 determines that the print medium is pre-punched, the control unit 180 determines whether the hole position is the leading end (step S14). Note that the position of the hole at the tip means that the hole is a front hole (that is, the direction of the hole is rightward), and the position of the hole need not be the end of the print medium. The control unit 180 executes the process of step S15 when determining that the position of the hole is the tip, and executes the process of step S17 otherwise.

  In step S14, when the control unit 180 determines that the position of the hole is the tip, the control unit 180 determines whether or not the type of the target tray is a built-in tray (step S15). When determining that the tray type is the built-in tray, the control unit 180 executes the process of step S21, and otherwise, executes the process of step S16.

  In step S15, when the control unit 180 determines that the tray type is not the built-in tray, the control unit 180 sets the target tray to candidate rank 1 (step S16). In this case, the only candidate is the invert discharge unless the invert discharge is performed, so that the direction of the hole cannot be directed to the staple binding position. To search. In addition, the candidate rank 1 is selected because the position or orientation of the hole has already been detected, so that it is selected as the feed tray in preference to the tray in which the rank of the candidate rank 2 has not yet been detected. It is. Thereafter, the control unit 180 changes the target row to a row storing the next highest priority, and then returns to step S11 and repeats the above processing.

  In step S14, when it is determined that the hole position is not the front end, the control unit 180 determines whether or not the hole position is the rear end (step S17). Note that the position of the hole at the rear end means that the hole is a rear hole (that is, the direction of the hole is leftward), and the position of the hole need not be the end of the print medium. The controller 180 executes the process of step S18 when determining that the position of the hole is the rear end, and executes the process of step S20 if not.

  In step S17, when the control unit 180 determines that the hole position is the rear end, the control unit 180 determines whether the type of the target tray is an external tray (step S18). When determining that the tray type is the external tray, the control unit 180 executes the process of step S21. Otherwise, the control unit 180 executes the process of step S19.

  In step S18, if the control unit 180 determines that the tray type is not an external tray, the control unit 180 sets the target tray to candidate rank 1 (step S19). Thereafter, the control unit 180 changes the target row to a row storing the next highest priority, and then returns to step S11 and repeats the above processing.

  In step S17, when the control unit 180 determines that the hole position is not the rear end, the control unit 180 sets the target tray to candidate rank 2 (step S20). Thereafter, the control unit 180 changes the target row to a row storing the next highest priority, and then returns to step S11 and repeats the above processing.

  When the control unit 180 determines in step S15 that the tray type is a built-in tray, or in step S18, the control unit 180 determines that the tray type is an external tray, the APS table. The target tray is designated as the feed tray without processing all the lines to be stored (step S21). This is because in these cases, the direction of the hole can be directed to the staple position by straight discharge, and thus it is considered that the productivity is higher than using other trays. Next, the control unit 180 designates rotation (that is, rotation processing) as being present (step S22). Thereafter, the control unit 180 designates the printing order in descending order of page numbers (step S23). Thereafter, the control unit 180 ends the execution of the APS process. By default, the control unit 180 designates rotation as unnecessary, designates the printing order in ascending order of page numbers, designates the ejection method as straight ejection, and designates the detection of holes as unnecessary.

  In step S11, when it is determined that the target row is the end, the control unit 180 determines whether or not the candidate rank 1 has already been set (step S24). The control unit 180 executes the process of step S25 when it is determined that the candidate rank 1 has already been set, and executes the process of step S27 otherwise.

  If it is determined in step S24 that the candidate rank 1 has already been set, the control unit 180 designates the candidate rank 1 tray as the feed tray (step S25). Next, the control unit 180 designates the discharge method as inverted discharge (step S26). Thereafter, the control unit 180 ends the execution of the APS process.

  If it is determined in step S24 that candidate rank 1 has not yet been set, control unit 180 determines whether candidate rank 2 has already been set (step S27). The controller 180 executes the process of step S28 when it is determined that the candidate rank 2 has already been set, and executes the process of step S30 otherwise.

  If it is determined in step S27 that candidate rank 2 has already been set, control unit 180 designates candidate rank 2 tray as the feed tray (step S28). Next, the control part 180 performs designation | designated which detects the position or direction of a hole (step S29). Thereafter, the control unit 180 ends the execution of the APS process.

If it is determined in step S27 that the candidate rank 2 is not yet set, the control unit 180 designates no candidate for the feed tray (step S30). However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the control unit 180 can adopt a configuration in which a default tray is designated as a feed tray. Thereafter, the control unit 180 ends the execution of the APS process.
In addition, the process of step S12 corresponds to the hole acquisition process which implement | achieves the hole acquisition part 183, and the process of step S13 to S30 corresponds to the determination process which implement | achieves the determination part 184.

  Next, with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14, the APS process executed by the control unit 180 when priority is given to the designation of the paper discharge surface will be described. FIG. 13 is a part of a flowchart showing an example of the APS process executed by the control unit 180 when priority is given to the specification of the paper discharge surface, and FIG. 14 shows the control unit 180 when priority is given to the specification of the paper discharge surface. It is the other part of the flowchart showing an example of the APS process performed. 13 and 14 are flowcharts illustrating an example of the APS process executed when the control unit 180 acquires a signal for instructing to output the surface on which the image is formed downward from the input unit 190.

  First, the control unit 180 executes the processes of steps S31 to S33 (steps S31 to S33). The processing from step S31 to S33 is the same as the processing from step S11 to S13 described with reference to FIGS.

  If it is determined in step S33 that the print medium is pre-punched, the control unit 180 determines whether or not the hole position is the rear end (step S34). The controller 180 executes the process of step S35 when determining that the position of the hole is the rear end, and executes the process of step S37 if not.

  In step S34, when the control unit 180 determines that the position of the hole is the rear end, the control unit 180 performs the processes of steps S35 and S36 (steps S35 and S36). Since the processes of steps S35 and S36 are the same as the processes of steps S15 and S16, description thereof is omitted. When determining that the tray is not a built-in tray, the control unit 180 sets the target tray to the candidate rank 1 because the orientation of the hole and the orientation of the image coincide with each other unless the print medium is transported using a duplex path. This is because it cannot be done. That is, the control unit 180 continues to search for a tray with higher productivity because there is no need to transport the print medium using a duplex path based on information in the APS table.

  In step S34, when the control unit 180 determines that the hole position is not the rear end, the control unit 180 determines whether the hole position is the front end (step S37). The controller 180 executes the process of step S38 when determining that the hole position is the tip, and executes the process of step S40 otherwise.

  In step S37, when the control unit 180 determines that the position of the hole is the tip, the control unit 180 determines whether or not the type of the target tray is an external tray (step S38). When determining that the tray type is the external tray, the control unit 180 executes the process of step S41, and otherwise, executes the process of step S39. Note that the process of step S39 is the same as the process of step S19, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  In step S37, when the control unit 180 determines that the position of the hole is not the tip, the control unit 180 executes the process of step S40 (step S40). Note that the process of step S40 is the same as the process of step S20, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  If it is determined in step S35 that the tray type is an internal tray, or if it is determined in step S38 that the tray type is an external tray, the control unit 180 selects a row stored in the APS table. The target tray is designated as a feed tray without processing all (step S41). In these cases, the orientation of the hole and the orientation of the image can be matched without using a duplex path, and thus it is considered that the productivity is higher than when other trays are used. Next, the control unit 180 designates the discharge method as inverted discharge (step S42).

  The control unit 180 specifies, by default, no use of the duplex path, specifies the printing order in ascending order of the page numbers, specifies the discharge method as invert discharge, and specifies no detection of holes. . The reason why the default discharge method is invert discharge is that the control unit 180 has acquired a signal from the input unit 190 instructing to output the surface on which the image is formed downward. Therefore, when a signal instructing to output the surface on which the image is formed upward is acquired from the input unit 190, the control unit 180 designates the default discharge method as straight discharge.

In step S31, when the control unit 180 determines that the target row is the end, the control unit 180 executes the process of step S43 (step S43). Since the process of step S43 is the same as the process of step S24, description is abbreviate | omitted.
If it is determined in step S43 that the candidate rank 1 has already been set, the control unit 180 designates the candidate rank 1 tray as the feed tray (step S44). Next, the control unit 180 makes a designation for using the duplex path (that is, designation for allowing the print medium to pass through the duplex path) (step S45). Thereafter, the control unit 180 designates the discharge method as inverted discharge (step S46). Thereafter, the control unit 180 ends the execution of the APS process.

  If it is determined in step S43 that the candidate rank 1 is not yet set, the control unit 180 executes the process of step S47 (step S47). Since the process of step S47 is the same as the process of step S27, description is abbreviate | omitted.

  If it is determined in step S47 that the candidate rank 2 has already been set, the control unit 180 designates the candidate rank 2 tray as the feed tray (step S48). Next, the control unit 180 designates the discharge method as inverted discharge (step S49). Thereafter, the control unit 180 performs designation for detecting the position or orientation of the hole (step S50). Next, the control unit 180 ends the execution of the APS process.

If it is determined in step S47 that the candidate ranking 2 has not yet been set, the control unit 180 executes the process of step S51 (step S51). Note that the processing in step S51 is the same as the processing in step S30, and thus description thereof is omitted. Thereafter, the control unit 180 ends the execution of the APS process.
In addition, the process of step S32 corresponds to the hole acquisition process which implement | achieves the hole acquisition part 183, and the process of step S53 to S51 corresponds to the determination process which implement | achieves the determination part 184.

Next, the ATS process executed by the control unit 180 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the ATS process executed by the control unit 180.
First, the control unit 180 determines whether or not a row to be read (hereinafter simply referred to as a target row) is the end of the ATS table (step S61). The ATS table is a table shown in FIG. If the control unit 180 determines that the target line is the end, the control unit 180 ends the process. If not, the control unit 180 executes the process of step S62.

  If it is determined in step S61 that the target row is not the end, the control unit 180 acquires the tray information from the target row of the ATS target table (step S62). When the print medium loaded on the current (that is, before the change) feed tray is pre-punched, the control unit 180 starts from the row of the ATS table with the high pre-punch priority (the number is small) stored in the ATS table. In order, the tray information is acquired as a target row to be read. Further, when the print medium of the feed tray is not pre-punched paper, the priority of storing in the table shown in FIG. 9A associated with the tray identifying information in the ATS table is high (the number is small). The target line is in order from the line.

  Next, the control unit 180 determines whether or not the tray can be automatically changed (hereinafter referred to as ATS possible) (step S63). As a specific example, the control unit 180 has the tray identified by the identification information of the target row loaded with printing paper (that is, not out of paper), and the size of the loaded printing medium is the current feed tray. Is equal to the size of the print medium loaded, it is determined that ATS is possible. If it is determined that ATS is possible, the control unit 180 executes the process of step S64. If not, the control unit 180 returns to step S61 and repeats the above process.

  If it is determined in step S63 that ATS is possible, the control unit 180 sets the tray information stored in the processing target row as alternative tray information and sets the current feed tray to a tray identified by the alternative tray information. Switching (step S64). Thereafter, the control unit 180 ends the execution of the ATS process.

  In this embodiment, the image acquisition unit 110 corresponds to an image acquisition unit, the stacking unit 120 corresponds to a stacking unit, the detection unit 130 corresponds to a detection unit, the image forming unit 140 corresponds to a forming unit, and an output unit. 150 corresponds to the output unit, the needle binding unit 160 corresponds to the needle binding unit, the transport unit 170 corresponds to the transport unit, the storage unit 181 corresponds to the storage unit, and the hole acquisition hand unit 183 serves as the hole acquisition unit. The determination unit 184 corresponds to the determination unit, the rotation unit 185 corresponds to the rotation unit, the formation control unit 186 corresponds to the formation control unit, and the conveyance control unit 187 corresponds to the conveyance control unit.

The program executed by the control unit 180 can be provided by being stored and distributed in a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a semiconductor memory, or other recording medium, or distributed via a network.
Furthermore, some or all of the functions realized by the image acquisition apparatus 100 executing software processing can be realized using a hardware circuit. Conversely, some or all of the functions realized by the image acquisition apparatus 100 using a hardware circuit can be realized by executing software processing.

  Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments, and various modifications, within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims, It can be changed.

1 is a configuration diagram illustrating an embodiment of an image forming system including an image forming apparatus of the present invention. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image forming apparatus. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of the control processing which a control part performs. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the orientation of holes in a print medium conveyed from a built-in tray to an image forming unit. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the orientation of holes in a print medium conveyed from an external tray to an image forming unit. It is a figure for outlining an example of the rotation process which a control part performs. It is a figure showing an example of straight discharge and invert discharge. It is a functional block diagram showing the example of 1 composition of a control part. It is a figure showing an example of the information which a storage part memorizes. It is a flowchart showing an example of the control processing which a control part performs. 7 is a part of a flowchart showing an example of an APS process executed by the control unit when productivity is prioritized. It is another part of the flowchart showing an example of the APS process which a control part performs when giving priority to productivity. 10 is a part of a flowchart showing an example of an APS process executed by a control unit when priority is given to designation of a paper discharge surface. 7 is another part of the flowchart showing an example of the APS process executed by the control unit when priority is given to the designation of the paper discharge surface. It is a flowchart showing an example of the ATS process which a control part performs.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image forming system 10 ... Communication network
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Image forming apparatus 110 ... Image acquisition part (image acquisition means)
120 ... Loading section (loading means) 130 ... Detection section (detection means)
140 ... Image forming unit (forming unit) 150 ... Output unit (output unit)
160: Paper binding unit (paper binding unit) 160 ... Conveying unit (conveying unit)
180 ... control unit 180a ... CPU
180b ... ROM 180c ... RAM
180e ... I / F 180f ... Bus
181 ... Storage unit (storage means) 182 ... Registration unit
183 ... Hole acquisition part (hole acquisition means) 184 ... Determination part (determination means)
185 ... Rotating means (rotating means) 186 ... Formation control unit (formation control means)
187 ... Transport control unit (transport control means) 190 ... Input unit
R1-7 ... transport path T1-6 ... trays 1-6

Claims (8)

A stacking means for stacking a print medium on which an image is printed;
Detection means for detecting the orientation of the holes of the print medium loaded by the loading means;
Forming means for printing and forming an image on a print medium stacked on the stacking means;
Output means for outputting a print medium on which the forming means has formed an image;
A transport unit configured to transport the print medium loaded by the stacking unit from the stacking unit to the forming unit, and to transport the print medium on which the forming unit has formed an image from the forming unit to the output unit;
Based on the orientation of the holes detected by the detection means, the orientation of the holes of the print medium is changed to a predetermined orientation, and the transport means is controlled to transport the print medium from the forming means to the output means. An image forming apparatus comprising: a conveyance control unit. Needle binding means for binding a predetermined position of the printing medium output by the output means with a needle;
2. The conveyance control unit according to claim 1, wherein the conveyance unit controls the conveyance unit to change the direction of the hole of the print medium to a position where the staple binding unit binds and to convey the hole to the output unit. The image forming apparatus described. A rotating unit that rotates an image formed by the forming unit so that the conveying unit is directed upward with respect to a direction of a hole of a print medium that is conveyed to the forming unit;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a formation control unit that controls the forming unit to form an image rotated by the rotating unit on the print medium. An image acquisition unit that acquires an image formed by the formation unit in association with a page number of the image;
The rotating means rotates the image acquired by the image acquiring means,
The formation control unit controls the formation unit to form an image rotated by the rotation unit on the upper surface of the print medium in descending order of the page numbers acquired by the image acquisition unit;
The transport control unit controls the transport unit to transport the print medium from the stacking unit to the forming unit without changing the front and back sides;
The output means outputs another print medium with the surface on which the image is formed on the print medium output by the forming means with the surface on which the image is formed facing up. The image forming apparatus described in 1.   The transport control unit controls the transport unit to transport the print medium from the stacking unit to the forming unit by changing the front and back so that the direction of the hole is upward with respect to the image formed by the forming unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus. An image acquisition means for acquiring an image formed by the formation means in association with a page number of the image;
Input means for inputting a signal instructing the output means to output the image-formed surface downward;
Forming control means for controlling the forming means to form the image on the print medium conveyed by the conveying means in ascending order of page numbers acquired by the image acquiring means;
The transport control unit controls the transport unit to transport the print medium from the forming unit to the output unit such that a surface on which an image is formed by the forming unit is in a direction input by the input unit;
The output means outputs the other print medium in the direction inputted by the input means on the print medium outputted by the forming means with the surface on which the image is formed set in the direction inputted by the input means. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5. Storage means for associating and storing information for identifying the stacking means and information indicating the orientation of the holes detected by the detection means of the print medium stacked on the stacking means;
Determination means for determining whether or not the transport means needs to change the front and back of the print medium by transport based on the orientation of the holes of the print medium stored in the storage means;
The conveyance control unit forms the print medium from a stacking unit that identifies information stored in the storage unit in association with the orientation of the hole of the print medium that the determination unit determines that it is not necessary to change the front and back sides. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveying unit is controlled to convey to the unit. Computer
Storage means for associating and storing information for identifying a stacking means for stacking a print medium on which an image is printed, and information indicating a direction of a hole of the print medium stacked by the stacking means;
Conveying means for transporting the print medium from a forming means for printing and forming an image on a print medium stacked on the stacking means to an output means for outputting the print medium on which the forming means has formed an image; Hole acquisition means for acquiring the hole orientation represented by the information stored in the storage means in association with information for identifying the loading means to be acquired;
Based on the orientation of the hole acquired by the hole acquisition means, the orientation of the print medium on which the forming means has formed an image is changed to a predetermined orientation, and the print medium is transferred from the formation means to the output means. An image forming program that functions as a conveyance control unit that controls the conveyance unit to convey the image.

Images