JP2011172044A - Image forming apparatus and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus in which, when a document is placed in a wrong direction, an image is formed after reduced into the size matched with a recording medium and a user is warned of the wrong way of placing the document. <P>SOLUTION: When the direction of the document placed on an original platen 2 is not matched with a predetermined direction corresponding to a document size as the result of the determination by a document direction determining section 23, an image size adjusting section 14 determines a reduction scale on the basis of a length in a second main scan direction and a length in a first main scan direction so that the document is not protruded from a print paper sheet when a printing control section 25 forms a document image on the print paper sheet. When the determination result of the document direction determining section 23 and the reduction scale are notified from the image size adjusting section 24, the printing control section forms the image of which the size is adjusted according to the reduction scale on the print paper sheet and forms a guidance image relating to the way of placing the document on the original platen in a marginal region on the print paper sheet. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and method having a copying function.

  Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus having a copying function, a scanner unit reads a document based on a document size and a recording medium size set by a user, and a printer unit records based on the image data of the scanned document. An image was formed on the medium. In such an image forming apparatus, in particular, the direction in which the document is placed on the document table is determined in advance, and many are well known to users by manuals or the like.

  In the image forming apparatus, for example, as shown in FIG. 11A, when the document a is placed on the document table b in the correct orientation, the scanner unit reads and reads all the documents a as indicated by arrows. Based on the image data of the document a, the printer unit correctly formed the image d on the recording medium c.

  However, for example, as shown in FIG. 11B, if the user has mistakenly placed the document a on the document table b, the scanner unit reads only a part of the document a as shown by the arrow. In other words, the printer unit could form only a part of the image d on the recording medium c based on the read image data of a part of the document a.

  On the other hand, if there is a slight shift in the document on the document table, an image with a constant or variable reduction ratio is recorded on the recording sheet to prevent unnecessary print margins and missing images. Techniques for printing on the surface are known.

  For example, in Patent Document 1, based on information input via a touch panel, the size of a document set in a scanner is recognized, the size of a printable area set in advance for a print target paper is acquired, A copy system is disclosed in which a reading magnification is determined based on a ratio of a printable area size to a recognized document size, and printing is performed at the determined reading magnification.

JP 2000-175030 A

  The copy system described in Patent Document 1 tries to print an image that should protrude from the recording medium while fitting the entire recording medium. However, as shown in the examples of FIGS. 11A and 11B, there is a problem that there is no way to notify the user of an error when the user misplaces the document. In particular, an image forming apparatus that does not include a liquid crystal display screen has a problem in that there is no way to notify the user of any mistakes.

  An object of the present invention is to form an image that is reduced in size according to a recording medium when a document is placed in the wrong direction and warn the user that the document is placed incorrectly. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of performing the above.

  An image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a document table and the document when a document of the document size is placed in a predetermined direction with respect to the document table when a document size is predetermined. A scanner for reading the image area, a buffer for temporarily storing the image data of the document read by the scanner, and reading the image data stored in the buffer, and forming an image according to the read image data on the print medium An image forming unit that performs scanning of the document on the document table and storage of image data of the read document in the buffer in parallel with the scanning. An image forming unit reads the image data from the buffer, forms an image on a recording medium according to the read image data, and the print medium In the image forming apparatus in which the image data relating to the image formed on the original is erased from the buffer, the original size and the position are set by detecting the length of the original on the original table in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction. Means for detecting the orientation, means for detecting the length of the recording medium in the main scanning direction, and when the detected orientation does not match the predetermined orientation corresponding to the detected document size, the image forming means When the original is formed on the recording medium, the length of the original in the main scanning direction and the main scanning direction of the recording medium are prevented so that the original does not protrude from the recording medium in the main scanning direction. And a means for determining a reduction magnification based on the length, wherein the image forming means forms an image having a size adjusted according to the reduction magnification on the recording medium, and the recording In a blank area on the body, to form a guidance image regarding how to place a document to the platen.

  As a result, when the original is placed in the wrong direction, the image is reduced in size to fit the recording medium, and the user is warned that the original is placed incorrectly on the platen. be able to.

  In a preferred embodiment, the image forming apparatus has no means for outputting characters or images other than the image forming means.

  Thus, even in an image forming apparatus that does not have a means for outputting characters or images in addition to the image forming means, it is possible to warn the user that the original is placed incorrectly.

  In a preferred embodiment, the image forming apparatus includes a suppression mode that suppresses the amount of image forming medium used during image formation, and the image forming unit forms the guidance image in the suppression mode.

  Thus, when the user is warned that the document is misplaced, the amount of the image forming medium used can be suppressed, and the cost can be reduced.

  In a preferred embodiment, the scanner rescans the original, and the image forming means is a guidance image including an image showing a preferred original arrangement on the original table, and the image showing the preferred original arrangement. Forms a guidance image including an image of the document based on the image data obtained by the rescanning.

  As a result, the guidance image can be formed again even after the image data relating to the image formed on the print medium has been erased from the buffer.

  In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus further comprises a discharge tray for receiving the recording medium, and when the recording medium on which the guidance image is formed is discharged to the discharge tray, the inside of the guidance image on the recording medium in the discharged state. The orientation of the original image coincides with the orientation of the original relating to the preferred original arrangement with respect to the original table.

  As a result, when the recording medium is viewed in the state of being discharged to the discharge tray, the user can grasp the correct orientation of the document with respect to the document table as it is seen.

1 is a perspective view showing a multifunction machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the multifunction machine of FIG. 1. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the printer unit of FIG. FIG. 3 is a plan view illustrating an outline of an operation unit and a scanner unit in FIG. 2. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating functions of the multifunction peripheral. FIG. It is an example of the setting information memorize | stored in the setting information storage part of FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the multifunction machine. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the operation | movement at the time of this scanning. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the operation | movement at the time of printing. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the operation | movement at the time of printing. It is explanatory drawing explaining the function of the conventional image forming apparatus.

  Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, a multifunction device 1 having a copying function and a printing function will be described as an example of an image forming apparatus. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to the multifunction device 1.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a multifunction machine 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The multifunction machine 1 includes a generally known document table 2, a paper feed tray 3, a paper discharge tray 4, a cover 5, and an operation unit 17. The operation unit 17 will be described later.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the MFP 1 according to the present embodiment. The multi-function device 1 has an interface (input / output) of information between a controller 11 that controls the entire control, a printer unit 15 that prints an image on a medium, and an external device (for example, a user PC as a host device). I / F) 18 and an operation unit 17 for inputting a user instruction.

  The controller 11, printer unit 15, I / F 18 and operation unit 17 are electrically connected by a bus 19.

  The controller 11 is configured as a microprocessor centered on the CPU 12, and includes a flash ROM 13 that can store and erase information and stores various application programs and various data files, and a RAM 14 that temporarily stores data. Yes. Further, the RAM 14 is provided with a buffer 22 for temporarily storing image data read by a scanner 16a described later.

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the printer unit 15. The printer unit 15 includes a head (not shown) having a nozzle for ejecting ink, a carriage 15a on which the head is mounted, a guide shaft 15b for moving the carriage 15a in the horizontal direction in the figure, and a guide. A motor (not shown) for moving the carriage 15a on the shaft 15b, a transport mechanism (not shown) for transporting the printing paper P, and the like are provided. In addition, the carriage 15a is provided with a sensor 15c for detecting the length of the printing paper P in the main scanning direction (hereinafter, the main scanning direction of the printing paper is referred to as a first main scanning direction). The length in the first main scanning direction detected by the sensor 15c is a so-called paper width, and is transmitted to the image size adjusting unit 24 described later. Here, the first main scanning direction is a direction in which the carriage 15a moves on the guide shaft 15b. The direction perpendicular to the first main scanning direction, that is, the printing paper conveyance direction is defined as the first sub-scanning direction.

  FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an outline of the operation unit 17 and the scanner unit 16.

  The operation unit 17 may be formed with a liquid crystal display screen or the like on which operational instructions and selection items are displayed, but may be configured without a means for outputting characters or images like the liquid crystal display screen. Good. For example, several operation buttons such as a power switch 17a, a document size selection button 17b, a printing paper size selection button 17c, a print number selection button 17d, and an execution button 17e are arranged on the operation unit 17 in the figure. In the operation with these operation buttons, a desired function is selected by pressing the operation button once or several times.

  The power switch 17a is a switch for switching on / off of the power. The execution button 17e is a button that is pressed when executing various functions such as printing and copying. The document size selection button 17b is a button for selecting several types of document sizes set in advance. Each time the user presses the document size selection button 17b, an LED lamp corresponding to the selected document size may be turned on. The preset document size may be a predetermined size (for example, L, 2L, B5, A4, B4, etc.). The orientation of the document placed on the document table is set in advance corresponding to the document size. For example, if the orientation corresponding to the document size is A4 size, the document is set to be placed in the document area surrounded by the dotted line in the drawing (that is, horizontally on the document table). The printing paper size selection button 17c is a button for selecting several types of printing paper P set in advance. Similarly to the document size selection button 17b, the printing paper size selection button 17c may be lit with an LED lamp corresponding to the selected printing paper P each time it is pressed. Further, the set size of the printing paper P may be a prescribed size as with the document size.

  The scanner unit 16 includes a document table 2 and a scanner 16a that reads a document region when a document of the document size is placed in a predetermined direction with respect to the document table 2 when a document size is predetermined. . The scanner 16a is disposed below the document table 2 formed of a transparent plate such as glass, and includes a reading sensor such as a CCD sensor (not shown) at a position facing the document table 2, for example. The scanner 16a moves in the sub-scanning direction from the right end to the left end in the drawing, and causes the reading sensor to read the image of the document in the scanning direction, thereby acquiring image data based on the document image (hereinafter referred to as the document table). The sub-scanning direction of the upper document is referred to as a second sub-scanning direction, and the main scanning direction of the document on the document table is referred to as a second main scanning direction). The scanner 16a sequentially stores the acquired image data in a buffer 22 described later.

  When copying a document, when the user first sets the document on the document table 2, the scanner 16a performs pre-scanning. In the pre-scan, the reading sensor of the scanner 16 a acquires image data of the entire document and stores it in the buffer 22. In this case, the image data may be data corresponding to a suppression mode in which the image quality is reduced in order to reduce the data capacity.

  After the pre-scan, the scanner 16a performs a main scan. In the main scan, the scanner 16a moves in the second sub-scanning direction from the right end to the left end in the drawing within the range of the document area detected by the document orientation determination unit 23, which will be described later, and the reading sensor is the second sensor. Image data is sequentially acquired in the main scanning direction. The acquired images are sequentially stored in a buffer described later. For image reading, part of the image data, for example, image data of about 2 to 10 rasters (1 to 5 reciprocations in the scanning direction) may be acquired. In this case, every time image data for 2 to 10 rasters is acquired, it is sequentially stored in the buffer 22.

  When a guidance image 50 described later is formed, the scanner 16a may perform rescanning. In this case, the image data may be data corresponding to the suppression mode.

  FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram illustrating functions of the multifunction device 1. In the frame, a control unit 20 that is realized by activating the multifunction device 1 based on an instruction from the operation unit 17 and controls the scanner unit 16 and the printer unit 15 is shown.

  The control unit 20 mainly includes a setting information storage unit 21, a document orientation determination unit 23, a buffer 22, an image size adjustment unit 24, and a print control unit 25.

  The setting information storage unit 21 stores various setting information 30 input from the operation unit 17. FIG. 6 is an example of the setting information 30 stored in the setting information storage unit 21. The setting information 30 includes, for example, the document size 31 selected by the document size selection button 17b, the print paper size 32 selected by the print paper size selection button 17c, the number of prints 33 selected by the print number selection button 17d, and the like. . Note that the orientation corresponding to each document and print paper size 31, 32 is set for the document and print paper P. For this reason, when the manuscript and printing paper sizes 31 and 32 are set, the orientation of the manuscript and printing paper is also set. The orientation of the document corresponding to the document size may be set, for example, as a length 31a in the second scanning direction and a length 31b in the second sub-scanning direction as shown in the figure. Further, the orientation of the printing paper corresponding to the printing paper size 32 may be set, for example, as a length 32a in the first scanning direction and a length 32b in the first sub-scanning direction as shown in the figure.

  Returning again to FIG. The buffer 22 temporarily stores image data of a document read by the scanner 16a. The buffer 22 stores image data of a document acquired by the reading sensor of the scanner 16a. For example, the buffer 22 may be realized with a small capacity for cost reduction. For example, when a pre-scan is performed in the scanner unit 16, image data corresponding to the suppression mode in which the image quality of the entire document is reduced is stored in the buffer 22.

  Further, for example, when the main scan is performed in the scanner unit 16, the image data of the original is stored in the buffer 22 part by part (for example, every 2 to 10 rasters) and sequentially overwritten. The image data stored in the buffer 22 is sequentially output to the printer unit 15 based on an instruction from the print control unit 25 described later before the image data is overwritten. That is, when the scanner 16a repeatedly reads a document on the document table 2 and stores the read image data in the buffer 22 in parallel, the print control unit 25 That is, the image data is read from the buffer 22, an image is formed on the print paper P according to the read image data, and the image data related to the image formed on the print paper P is erased from the buffer 22.

  The document orientation determination unit 23 determines the document size and the orientation in which the document is placed by detecting the lengths in the second main scanning direction and the second sub-scanning direction. For example, the document orientation determination unit 23 performs edge detection from the image data stored in the buffer 22 during pre-scanning, and based on this, detects the length in the second main scanning direction and the length in the second sub-scanning direction. May be.

  Based on the detected length in the second main scanning direction and the length in the second sub-scanning direction, the document orientation determination unit 23 determines the document size and orientation of the document set on the document table 2. To do. The document orientation determination unit 23, for example, the length in the second main scanning direction and the length in the second sub-scanning direction, which are the results of edge detection (hereinafter referred to as detection results), and the first information stored in the setting information storage unit 21. 2. Compare the length 31a in the main scanning direction and the length 31b in the second sub-scanning direction to identify the document size of the document set on the document table 2 and determine whether the document orientation is correct. To do.

  For example, if the detection results are the length in the second main scanning direction: β mm and the length in the second sub-scanning direction: α mm, the document orientation determination unit 23 indicates that the document on the document table 2 is A4. Is identified. Next, the document orientation determination unit 23 refers to the data in the setting information storage unit 21 (see FIG. 6), and the length 31a in the second main scanning direction corresponding to the image size 32: A4 and the second sub scanning. The direction length 31b is extracted. In the illustrated example, the length 31a in the second main scanning direction is α mm, and the length 31b in the second sub scanning direction is β mm. The document orientation determination unit 23 compares these lengths, the second main scanning direction length according to the detection result is β mm, and the length 31 b in the second main scanning direction in the setting information storage unit is α mm and does not match. Yes, the length 31a in the second sub-scanning direction in the second sub-scanning direction and the length 31a in the second main scanning direction in the setting information storage unit are inconsistent with αmm, and the orientation of the document placed on the document table 2 is incorrect. It is determined that

  The document orientation determination unit 23 determines the document size of the document placed on the document table 2, the length in the second main scanning direction and the length in the second sub-scanning direction, and the document size as the document size defined as the determination result. The image size adjustment unit 24 is notified of whether or not the image size matches the direction of the image size.

  The image size adjusting unit 24 receives the length in the first main scanning direction detected by the sensor 15c on the carriage 15a notified from the printer unit 15.

  The image size adjustment unit 24 also receives the determination result from the document orientation determination unit 23. As a result of the determination by the document orientation determination unit 23, the image size adjustment unit 24 prints the document when the orientation of the document placed on the document table 2 does not match the default orientation corresponding to the document size. When forming on the paper P, the original is reduced based on the length in the second main scanning direction and the length in the first main scanning direction so that the original does not protrude from the printing paper P in the first main scanning direction. Determine the magnification.

  For example, when the orientation of the document does not match the orientation of the specified document size 31 in the received determination result, the image size adjustment unit 24 determines the length in the second scanning direction and the carriage 15a notified from the printer unit 15. The reduction magnification is determined from the ratio with the length in the first scanning direction detected by the upper sensor 15c. For example, when the document size 31 is A4 size, the length in the second main scanning direction is β mm, and the length in the first main scanning direction notified from the printer unit is α mm (β > Α), and the reduction ratio may be α / β. In this case, the image size adjustment unit 24 notifies the print control unit 25 of the reduction ratio together with the determination result received from the document orientation determination unit 23.

  Note that the image size adjustment unit 24 does not determine the reduction ratio and determines the reduction ratio when the document orientation matches the orientation of the specified document size in the determination result received from the document orientation determination unit 23, for example. Is notified that normal printing will be performed. Here, normal printing means that, for example, the document size and the size of the printing paper P are the same, and an image similar to the image of the document is formed on the printing paper at the same magnification and in the same direction.

  The print control unit 25 reads the image data stored in the buffer 22 and forms an image according to the read image data on the printing paper P. For example, the print control unit 25 sequentially reads the image data in the buffer 22 from the head and transmits it to the printer unit 15, and instructs the printer unit 15 to form an image on the printing paper P. Also good.

  For example, when the image size adjustment unit 24 notifies the print control unit 25 that normal printing is to be performed, the print control unit 25 may further instruct the printer unit 15 to perform normal printing.

  For example, if the determination result of the document orientation determination unit 23 and the reduction magnification are notified from the image size adjustment unit 24, the print control unit 25 displays an image whose size is adjusted according to the reduction magnification on the print paper P. At the same time, the printer unit 15 may be further instructed to form a guidance image 50 on how to place the document on the document table 2 in the margin area on the printing paper P. When the determination result of the document orientation determination unit 23 and the reduction ratio are notified from the image size adjustment unit 24, that is, the orientation of the document placed on the document table 2 matches the default orientation corresponding to the document size. This is the case. In this case, the print control unit 25 may extract the image data from the buffer 22, generate image data that matches the reduction ratio, and send the image data to the printer unit 15.

  The guidance image 50 includes a message indicating that the document has not been correctly placed on the document table 2. For example, a message with characters “Incorrect placement of the document” may be output on the print paper P as a guidance image.

  Further, the guidance image 50 may include an image indicating a correct placement of the document on the document table 2. For example, the guidance image 50 may be a text message such as “Please place an A4 size document sideways”, or may include an image indicating how to correctly place the document on the document table. In this case, the guidance image 50 is the original image in the guidance image 50 on the printed paper P in the discharged state when the printing paper P on which the guidance image 50 is printed is discharged on the paper discharge tray 4. The direction of the original may correspond to the direction of the original according to the correct original placement with respect to the original table 2.

  Further, the image showing the correct document placement method may be the guidance image 50 based on the image data obtained by rescanning by the scanner 16a. For example, in the case of reduced image printing, when the scanner unit 16 stores image data partly in the buffer 22 and sequentially overwrites it in accordance with the reading of the print control unit 25, after the reduced image printing, the image is stored in the buffer. Only a part of image data remains. In such a case, after the printer unit 15 finishes reducing the image, the print control unit 25 may instruct the scanner unit 16 to rescan.

  Next, the operation of the multifunction device 1 when the user tries to copy a document using the multifunction device 1 according to the present embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the multifunction machine 1. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation during the main scan. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an operation during printing.

  After the power is turned on, the user selects the document size with the document size selection button 17b, selects the print size with the print paper size selection button 17c, and selects the number of prints with the print number selection button 17d (see FIG. 4). .

  Next, when the user places a document on the document table 2 and presses the execution button 17e, pre-scanning is executed (step S1). In the prescan, the image data of the entire document is stored in the buffer 22.

  Next, the document orientation determination unit 23 determines the document size and the orientation on the document table from the image data stored in the buffer 22 (step S2), and notifies the image size adjustment unit 24 of the determination result.

  If it is determined that the orientation of the document is correct (step S2: Yes), the image size adjustment unit 24 notifies the print control unit 25 that normal printing is to be performed.

  Upon receiving the notification, the print control unit 25 instructs the printer unit to perform normal printing. The printer unit that has received the instruction performs 15 normal printing (step S3). Even in normal printing, the scanner unit 16 stores the image data read in the second scanning direction in the main scanning part by part in the buffer 22 in order to be overwritten sequentially, and the printer unit. 15 may read out the image data sequentially from the head before the image data stored in the buffer 22 is overwritten to form an image. In the case of normal printing, the process ends here.

  If it is determined in step S2 that the orientation of the document is incorrect, it is determined whether or not the multifunction device 1 has a display screen such as a liquid crystal display screen (step S4). This determination depends on the model of the multifunction machine 1 and may not be executed by a specific means.

  In the case of the multifunction machine 1 having a liquid crystal display screen (step S4: Yes), the guidance image 50 is displayed on the liquid crystal display screen (step S5).

  After step S5, the image data obtained by the prescan in the buffer 22 is erased (step S6), and this process ends.

  If it is determined in step S4 that the multifunction device 1 does not have a liquid crystal screen, the scanner unit 16 determines the range of the document area of the erroneously placed document based on the determination result of the document orientation determination unit 23 in step S2. Is stored in the buffer 22 (step S7). As shown in FIG. 8A, the image data is acquired part by part in the range of the document area of the document that is erroneously placed on the document table 2. For example, the image data is sequentially acquired part by part along the second scanning direction as indicated by the arrows in the figure. The acquired image data is temporarily stored in the buffer 22 in the order of acquisition, as shown in FIG.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 9A, the printer unit 15 detects the length in the first main scanning direction (that is, the paper width of the printing paper P) (step S <b> 8) and transmits it to the image size adjustment unit 24. To do.

  The image size adjustment unit 24 has already been notified from the document orientation determination unit 23, and the length in the second main scanning direction based on the determination result in step S2, and the first main scanning transmitted from the printer unit 15 in step S8. The reduction ratio of the image is determined from the direction length. Then, the image size adjustment unit 24 notifies the determined reduction magnification together with the determination result of step S2 to the print control unit 25 (step S9).

  Upon receiving the notification from the image size adjustment unit 24, the print control unit 25 generates image data for reduction from the image data sequentially read from the buffer 22 based on the notified reduction ratio and transmits it to the printer unit 15. At the same time, the printer unit 15 is instructed to form an image based on the reduction magnification on the printing paper P.

  The printer unit 15 forms an image on the printing paper P at a reduction ratio instructed from the printing control unit 25 (step S10). The printer unit 15 forms an image along the first scanning direction of the printing paper P from the image data for reduction sequentially transmitted from the printing control unit 25 as indicated by the arrows in FIG.

  After step S10, the printer unit 15 forms the guidance image 50 on the margin of the printing paper P (step S11).

  FIG. 10 is a plan view when the printing paper P on which the guidance image 50 is printed is discharged to the paper discharge tray 4 after printing. The guidance image 50 may include a message 51 indicating that the document has not been correctly placed, or may include an image 52 indicating the correct placement on the document table 2. The image 52 indicating the correct placement may include an image 53 indicating the document table and an image 54 of the document placed in the correct orientation with respect to the document table 53. The guidance image 50 may include only one of the message 51 and the image 52.

  When the guidance image 50 is formed, the document may be rescanned, and the document image 54 may be printed based on the rescanned image data. In other words, in this case, the document image 54 is an image of the document actually placed on the document table 2 and is an image obtained by correcting the image in a correct manner. In this case, the guidance image 50 may be formed in the suppression mode as described above.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 10, the guidance image 50 may be printed in the same direction as the actual document table 2 with the document table 53 in a state where the printing paper P is discharged to the discharge tray 4. . As a result, the orientation of the document image 54 matches the correct orientation of the document on the actual document table 2, and the user can easily understand the guidance image 50 intuitively.

  According to the MFP according to the present embodiment, when an original is placed in the wrong direction, the image is reduced in size to fit the printing paper P, and the original is placed on the original table 2. Can warn the user that is wrong.

  The above-described embodiments of the present invention are examples for explaining the present invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention only to those embodiments. Those skilled in the art can implement the present invention in various other modes without departing from the gist of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Multifunction device 2 Document base 3 Paper feed tray 4 Paper discharge tray 11 Controller 14 Image size adjustment part 15 Printer unit 16 Scanner unit 17 Operation part 19 Bus 20 Control part 21 Setting information storage part 22 Buffer 23 Original orientation determination part 24 Image size Adjustment unit 25 Print control unit

Claims (6)

The document table,
A scanner that reads an area of the original when the original is placed in a predetermined orientation with respect to the original table when the original size is predetermined;
A buffer for temporarily storing image data of a document read by the scanner;
Image forming means for reading image data stored in the buffer and forming an image according to the read image data on a print medium,
When the scanner repeatedly reads a document on the document table and stores image data of the read document in the buffer, the image forming unit reads the document from the buffer in parallel. In an image forming apparatus that reads image data, forms an image on a recording medium according to the read image data, and deletes image data related to the image formed on the print medium from the buffer.
Means for detecting the document size and the orientation of the document by detecting the length of the document on the document table in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction;
Means for detecting the length of the recording medium in the main scanning direction;
When the detected orientation does not match the predetermined orientation corresponding to the detected document size, the document is scanned in the main scanning direction when the image forming unit forms the document on the recording medium. Means for determining a reduction ratio based on the length of the original in the main scanning direction and the length of the recording medium in the main scanning direction so as not to protrude from the recording medium,
The image forming unit forms an image adjusted in size according to the reduction magnification on the recording medium, and forms a guidance image regarding how to place the document on the document table in a blank area on the recording medium. Forming equipment.
2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus has no means for outputting characters or images other than the image forming means.
The image forming apparatus includes a suppression mode for suppressing the amount of image forming medium used during image formation.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming unit forms the guidance image in the suppression mode.
The scanner rescans the document,
The image forming unit is a guidance image including an image indicating a preferable document arrangement on the document table, and the image indicating the preferable document arrangement is an image of the document based on the image data obtained by the rescanning. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a guidance image including the image is formed.
A discharge tray for receiving the recording medium;
When the recording medium on which the guidance image is formed on the discharge tray is discharged, the orientation of the document image in the guidance image on the discharged recording medium is a preferable document arrangement with respect to the document table. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus matches an orientation of the document.
The document table,
A scanner that reads an area of the original when the original is placed in a predetermined orientation with respect to the original table when the original size is predetermined;
A buffer for temporarily storing image data of a document read by the scanner;
Image forming means for reading image data stored in the buffer and forming an image according to the read image data on a print medium,
When the scanner repeatedly reads a document on the document table and stores image data of the read document in the buffer, the image forming unit reads the document from the buffer in parallel. A method performed by an image forming apparatus that reads image data, forms an image on a recording medium according to the read image data, and erases image data related to the image formed on the print medium from the buffer,
Detecting the document size and the orientation in which the document is placed by detecting the length of the document on the document table in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction;
Detecting the length of the recording medium in the main scanning direction;
When the detected orientation does not match the predetermined orientation corresponding to the detected document size, the document is scanned in the main scanning direction when the image forming unit forms the document on the recording medium. Determining a reduction ratio based on the length of the original in the main scanning direction and the length of the recording medium in the main scanning direction so as not to protrude from the recording medium,
The image forming means forms an image adjusted in size according to the reduction magnification on the recording medium, and forms a guidance image relating to how to place the document on the document table in a blank area on the recording medium. .

Images