JP2013055512A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer which displays preview images in consideration of the deviation of a printing position caused by mechanical circumstances, with respect to both the front surface and rear surface.SOLUTION: A composite machine 1 comprises: a preview image generation part 9 for generating a preview image based on printing setting from an inputted image; and a storage part 11 for storing the trend value of deviation from a logical printing position with respect to both the front surface and rear surface. In a case where both-side printing is designated as printing setting, the preview image generation part 9 generates a preview image for both-side printing obtained by deviating the position of an image on the basis of the trend value of deviation of each of the front surface and the rear surface stored in the storage part 11, and displays the generated preview images for both-side printing.

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus having a preview function and capable of duplex printing.

2. Description of the Related Art Printing apparatuses such as copiers and multifunction peripherals print an image obtained by scanning a document placed on a platen with a scanner. In recent years, a screen is displayed as a preview image to confirm the printing state in advance. What has the function to perform is known.
Also, there are those that synthesize a processing state of a post-processing device such as punching or stapling with a preview image, and those that display a back side image as a watermark image when previewing an image to be printed on both sides.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 discloses that the back side image is previewed in consideration of the deviation of the printing position in consideration of the fact that the printing position on the back side is deviated from the front side due to mechanical reasons. Yes.

JP 2009-124676 A

  However, in Patent Document 1, only the image on the back side is displayed with a preview including the shift in the print position. However, depending on the state of the apparatus, the print position of the front image may be shifted.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus that displays a preview image in consideration of displacement of a printing position due to mechanical circumstances on both the front surface and the back surface in view of the above-described actual situation.

  The first technical means of the present invention is a printing apparatus, a preview image generating unit that generates a preview image based on print settings from an input image, and a tendency value of deviation from a theoretical print position. And a deviation tendency value storage unit for storing each of the back side, and when double-sided printing is designated as the print setting, the deviation tendency values of the front and back sides stored in the deviation tendency value storage unit The preview image generating unit generates a preview image for double-sided printing in which the position of the image is shifted based on the image, and displays the generated preview image for double-sided printing.

  A second technical means of the present invention is the first technical means, further comprising an adjustment value input unit for inputting print position adjustment information, wherein the adjustment value is displayed while the preview image for double-sided printing is being displayed. When the print position adjustment information is input from the input unit, a preview image obtained by adjusting the image position in the preview image for double-sided printing based on the input print position adjustment information is displayed by the preview image generation unit. The image on the front surface and the image on the back surface are printed at the print position based on the print position adjustment information in accordance with a print instruction.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the printing apparatus which displays the preview image which considered the shift | offset | difference of the printing position by mechanical circumstances about both the front surface and the back surface can be provided.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a multifunction machine to which a printing apparatus of the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is an external view illustrating an example of a touch panel and a key operation unit in the multifunction peripheral of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a standard screen of the multifunction peripheral of FIG. 1. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image obtained by reading a document to be printed on both sides. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a preview image generated by a preview image generation unit from an image obtained by reading the original in FIG. 4 when double-sided printing is designated as a print setting. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen displayed at the time of a preview display. It is a figure which shows an example of the setting screen of a deviation tendency value.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a multifunction machine to which a printing apparatus according to the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is an external view illustrating an example of a touch panel and a key operation unit in the multifunction peripheral of FIG.
In the MFP 1 of FIG. 1, a copy mode for reading an image of a document and printing it on a recording sheet, a facsimile mode for reading and transmitting an image of a document, and receiving an image of a document and printing it on a recording sheet, and information It is possible to selectively perform a printer mode or the like for printing an image received from a terminal device via a network on a recording sheet. Since this multifunction device 1 is characterized by the operation in the copy mode, only functional blocks related to the copy mode are shown, and descriptions of other modes are omitted.

  The multifunction device 1 includes an image input unit 3, an image memory 4, an image printing unit 5, a post-processing device 6, a touch panel 7, a key operation unit 8, and a preview image generation unit 9 via a control unit 2 and a bus. The preview image memory 10 and the storage unit 11 are connected to each other.

  The control unit 2 is configured by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or the like, and performs various operations and controls of the multifunction machine 1 by reading and executing various programs stored in the storage unit 11.

  The image input unit 3 is an automatic document feeder (Auto Document Feeder) or a scanner that reads a document placed on a document table and outputs it as an image to the image memory 4.

  The image memory 4 temporarily stores the image input by the image input unit 3 and outputs an image to be printed to the image printing unit 5.

  The image printing unit 5 forms an image based on the image input from the image memory 4 and prints it on a recording sheet. For example, an electrophotographic method is used as a printing method.

  The post-processing device 6 is a device for performing post-processing on the recording paper printed by the image printing unit 5. For example, the post-processing device 6 closes the recording paper by punching or punching a specified position. Execute stapling processing or the like.

  The touch panel 7 and the key operation unit 8 are necessary for executing an operation for selecting a desired process from processes such as a document reading process and a printing process, an operation for starting the process, and each process. An operation (selection operation or input operation) or the like for performing a setting is received. The touch panel 7 and the key operation unit 8 may be configured as an operation panel 20 illustrated in FIG. The key operation unit 8 includes a key group necessary for operation, such as a start key 20a and a numeric keypad 20b for receiving an instruction to start reading a document.

  The touch panel 7 functions as a display unit such as a liquid crystal display and an operation receiving unit such as a touch sensor. In addition, by displaying a preview image described later on the display unit, the user can visually recognize the preview image.

  The preview image generation unit 9 is a functional unit that generates a preview image based on print settings from an image stored in the image memory 4 and outputs the preview image to the preview image memory 10. Then, the preview image stored in the preview image memory 10 is output (displayed) on the display unit of the touch panel 7.

  The storage unit 11 stores various data and programs for operating the multifunction device 1. The control unit 2 executes a control process by reading and executing a control program stored in the storage unit 11. In addition, the storage unit 11 stores in advance a deviation tendency value from the theoretical print position of the actual print position as the “deviation tendency value storage unit” of the present invention. The print position adjustment information stored in the storage unit 11 will be described later.

  Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 3 to 6, an example of a screen displayed on the touch panel 7 of the digital multi-function peripheral 1 and a preview image displayed on the screen at the time of preview display will be described. It explains together.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a standard screen of the multifunction machine 1 of FIG.
A GUI (Graphic User Interface) image 30 of the standard screen in FIG. 3 is displayed on the touch panel 7 when the power of the multifunction device 1 is turned on or the multifunction device 1 is reset. In the GUI image 30, a copy mode selection key 31, an image transmission mode selection key 32, and a document filing mode selection key 33 are displayed for selecting an operation mode of the digital multi-function peripheral 1. Hereinafter, for example, a case where the user selects the copy mode will be described.

In the GUI image 30, it is possible to set an output condition for copying. For example, a color mode copy key 34 for setting color copying / monochrome copying, and setting of finishing processing such as punching and stapling are performed. A finishing key 35 for printing, a double-sided copy key 36 for setting double-sided printing, and a special function key 37 for performing detailed settings at the time of copying are displayed.
In addition, a preview confirmation key 38 for displaying a print state based on the set output condition on the touch panel 7 for the image related to the document read by the image input unit 3 is displayed.

When the user operates the preview confirmation key 38 and then the start key 20a (see FIG. 2), the image input unit 3 starts reading the original, and sequentially reads the original conveyed by the ADF one by one as an image. Output to the memory 4.
Also, the preview image generation unit 9 generates a preview image from the image stored in the image memory 4 based on print settings such as double-sided printing. The generated preview image is displayed on the touch panel 7. When double-sided printing is designated, the preview image generating unit generates, for example, a preview image for double-sided printing in which a back-side transparent image obtained by inverting and transmitting a reverse-side image is combined with a front-side image.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image obtained by reading a document to be printed on both sides. FIG. 4A is an image obtained by reading a document printed on the front surface, and FIG. 4B is a document printed on the back surface. It is the image which read. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a preview image generated by the preview image generation unit 9 from an image obtained by reading the original in FIG. 4 when double-sided printing is designated as the print setting.
In the original image 41 printed on the front surface and the original image 42 printed on the back surface in FIG. 4, there is a character at the center, but if printing is performed based on these images 41 and 42 without adjustment, The printing position is misaligned due to mechanical reasons, and the above characters are printed at a position deviating from the center. Here, it is assumed that printing is performed at a position shifted to the right.

  Since printing is performed at the shifted position as described above, the multifunction device 1 stores the tendency value of the shift from the theoretical print position of the actual print position in the storage unit 11 for each of the front and back surfaces. Then, when the preview display is instructed in a state where double-sided printing is designated as the print setting, the preview image generating unit 9 generates a double-sided printing preview image by combining the front side image and the back side transparent image. A preview image 50 for double-sided printing in FIG. 5 in which the positions of the images 41 and 42 in FIG. 4 are shifted is generated based on the deviation tendency values of the front and back surfaces stored in the storage unit 11. The generated preview image 50 for double-sided printing is displayed on the touch panel 7.

  The user can adjust the print position by operating the touch panel 7 or the key operation unit 8 while viewing the preview image 50, and can obtain a printed matter in which the image is printed at a desired position from the multifunction peripheral. .

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed during preview display.
A GUI image 60 shown in the figure is a preview display screen for double-sided printing, and displays “Preview display” as an operation state message 61.

  The GUI image 60 includes a preview image 62 for double-sided printing embedded in the GUI image, and displays the current page information 63 indicating the current page as a print page and a page that can be switched in units of print pages. A switching key 64 and total page number information 65 indicating the total number of pages of the printed matter are displayed. When the user operates the page switching key 64, a preview image of the next / previous print page is displayed.

The GUI image 60 further displays an enlargement / reduction key 66, a display rotation key 67, and the like, and the user can check the image 62 by enlarging / reducing or rotating the preview image 62 by appropriately operating these keys. Can do.
Further, a preview image 62 for double-sided printing is also displayed on the GUI image 60, and the user can confirm the finished state after printing as a preview by operating the finish display key 68. For example, when punch hole formation is set as an output condition, punch information indicating a state in which punch holes are formed in printed paper is displayed together with a preview image as finish information.

The GUI image 60 further displays a back surface adjustment key 69 for adjusting the print position of the back surface image. When the user presses the back surface adjustment key 68, the preview image 62 for double-sided printing is displayed. By performing a drag operation, it is possible not only to change the display position of the back transparent image in the preview image 62 but also to adjust the print position of the back image. Further, by performing a drag operation on the preview image 62 for double-sided printing without pressing the back surface adjustment key 68, not only the display position of the front image in the preview image 62 is changed, but also the front surface The print position of the image can be adjusted.
Information about how and in which direction the front and back images are moved and printed, which are set by these operations, is stored in the storage unit 11 as print position adjustment information.

  Further, a copy start key 70 is displayed on the GUI image 60, and the user operates the copy start key 70, whereby the image on the front surface is displayed at the print position based on the print position adjustment information stored in the storage unit 11. The image on the back side can be copied (printed), and a printed matter with the image printed at a desired position can be obtained.

  In the above-described example, the print position of the back image and the front image is adjusted by a drag operation. However, the print position is adjusted by numerical input using the numeric keypad 20b of the operation panel 20 (see FIG. 2). Also good.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a setting screen for a deviation tendency value.
3 is displayed on the touch panel 7 when the system setting key on the operation panel 20 in FIG. 2 is pressed and the displayed screen is operated. In the GUI image 80, there are input fields for deviation tendency values in the horizontal direction (X direction) and the vertical direction (Y direction) for each of the front and back surfaces. The user selects the input field and uses the numeric keypad on the operation panel. When the user presses the OK key after inputting a numerical value, a deviation tendency value is set and stored in the storage unit 11.
The deviation tendency value may be set in advance as described above and stored in the storage unit 11, or may be set and stored at the time of preview display.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... MFP, 2 ... Control part, 3 ... Image input part, 4 ... Image memory, 5 ... Image printing part, 6 ... Post-processing apparatus, 7 ... Touch panel, 8 ... Key operation part, 9 ... Preview image generation part, 10: Preview image memory, 11: Storage unit.

Claims (2)

A preview image generation unit that generates a preview image based on print settings from the input image;
A deviation tendency value storage unit that stores a deviation tendency value from the theoretical printing position for each of the front and back surfaces,
When double-sided printing is designated as the print setting, a preview image for double-sided printing in which the position of the image is shifted based on the deviation tendency values of the front and back surfaces stored in the deviation tendency value storage unit is displayed. A printing apparatus generated by the preview image generation unit and displaying the generated preview image for double-sided printing. Furthermore, an adjustment value input unit for inputting print position adjustment information is provided,
When the print position adjustment information is input from the adjustment value input unit while the double-sided print preview image is displayed, the double-sided print preview image is displayed based on the input print position adjustment information. A preview image in which the position of the image is changed is generated and displayed by the preview image generation unit, and the front surface image and the back surface image are printed at a print position based on the print position adjustment information according to a print instruction. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

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