JP2017207529A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus that is highly likely to be able to perform printing processing of the number of sheets to be printed desired by a user when a toner cartridge attached to a body part is continuously used.SOLUTION: A predicted printing number acquisition part 71 acquires the predicted number of sheets to be printed of a toner cartridge 34 when a predetermined toner consumption operation is executed according to a predetermined standard operation condition on the basis information related to an amount of toner inside the toner cartridge 34 attached to an attachment part 3A. A desired printing number acquisition part 72 acquires the number of sheets to be printed desired by a user on the basis of input from an operation display part 5. An operation condition changing part 73 changes an operation condition for the toner consumption operation to be executed in a period until the toner cartridge 34 is replaced on the basis of a ratio between the predicted number of sheets to be printed and the number of sheets to be printed desired by the user.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that performs printing using toner supplied from a toner cartridge.

  There is known an image forming apparatus capable of setting an upper limit value of the usable number of recording sheets for each user. Also, in such an image forming apparatus, when printing image data of a plurality of pages based on a user instruction, an output setting (reduced printing that can be printed without exceeding the upper limit of the usable number of recording sheets) An image forming apparatus that automatically calculates (double-sided printing, etc.) is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  For example, the image forming apparatus can print without exceeding the upper limit of the usable number of sheets when receiving an instruction to output 20 pages of image data in a situation where the remaining usable number of recording sheets is five. As possible output settings, reduced printing for printing two pages per page is set, and duplex printing is set.

JP 2006-321079 A

  In general, the amount of toner contained in a toner cartridge is determined for each type of toner cartridge. Therefore, the number of printable sheets under standard printing conditions (for example, A4 plain paper, printing ratio 5%, single-sided continuous printing) is also determined for each type of toner cartridge. However, there is a case where it is desired to print a larger number of sheets than the printable number because the image quality may be lowered in order to reduce the running cost. Specifically, there may be a case where it is desired to perform, for example, 20,000 printing processes using a toner cartridge having 10,000 printable sheets under standard printing conditions.

  However, when the image forming apparatus receives an instruction to print image data with a number of pages (for example, 20 pages) that exceeds the remaining usable number of recording sheets (for example, 5 sheets), the remaining usable number of sheets is received. Only the output setting that fits in is automatically calculated. Therefore, for example, when it is desired to perform a printing process of 20,000 sheets using a toner cartridge having a printable number of 10,000 sheets, the user needs to manually perform settings such as reducing the image density. In addition, the toner in the toner cartridge is consumed not only by being transferred to the sheet but also during the maintenance operation. Therefore, if the image density is reduced, 20,000 sheets can be printed. The user doesn't know what will happen.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that has a high possibility of performing a printing process of a desired number of prints by a user when a toner cartridge mounted in a mounting unit is continuously used.

  An image forming apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes a mounting unit, a predicted print number acquisition unit, a set number acquisition unit, an operation condition change unit, and an operation control unit. A toner cartridge can be attached to and detached from the mounting portion. The estimated number-of-print-sheets acquisition unit is configured to execute a predetermined toner consumption operation according to a predetermined standard operation condition based on information related to a toner amount in a toner cartridge mounted on the mounting unit. The set number acquisition unit that acquires the predicted number of prints of the toner cartridge acquires the set number based on an input from the input unit. The operation condition changing unit changes an operation condition of the toner consumption operation that can be executed in a period until the toner cartridge is replaced based on a ratio between the predicted print number and the set number.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that is highly likely to be able to perform a printing process for the number of prints desired by the user when the toner cartridge mounted in the mounting unit is continuously used.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a desired print number setting screen used in the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an operation condition table used in the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure of an operation condition changing process executed by the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a copy setting screen used in the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings for understanding of the present invention. The following embodiment is an example embodying the present invention, and does not limit the technical scope of the present invention.

[Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus 10]
First, the configuration of the image forming apparatus 10 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

  The image forming apparatus 10 is a multifunction machine having a print function for forming an image based on image data, and a plurality of functions such as a scan function, a facsimile function, and a copy function. The present invention can be applied to any image forming apparatus that performs printing processing using toner supplied from the toner cartridge 34, such as a printer device, a facsimile device, and a copier.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the image forming apparatus 10 includes an ADF (Auto Document Feeder) 1, an image reading unit 2, an image forming unit 3, a paper feeding unit 4, and an operation display unit 5 (“input” of the present invention). Unit "), a storage unit 6, and a control unit 7.

  The ADF 1 is an automatic document conveyance device that includes a document setting unit (not shown), a plurality of conveyance rollers, a document pressing unit, and a paper discharge unit, and conveys a document read by the image reading unit 2. The image reading unit 2 includes a document table (not shown), a light source, a plurality of mirrors, an optical lens, and a CCD (Charge Coupled Device), and can read image data from the document.

  The image forming unit 3 executes an image forming process for forming an image on a sheet supplied from the paper feeding unit 4. The image forming unit 3 is an electrophotographic system that executes image forming processing (printing processing) based on image data read by the image reading unit 2 or image data input from an information processing apparatus such as an external personal computer. Image forming means.

  The image forming unit 3 includes a photosensitive drum 31, a charging device 32, a developing device 33, a toner cartridge 34, a transfer roller 35, a charge eliminating device 36, a fixing roller 37, and a pressure roller 38.

  Image formation by the image forming unit 3 is performed in the following procedure. First, the photosensitive drum 31 is uniformly charged to a predetermined potential by the charging device 32. Next, light based on image data is irradiated on the surface of the photosensitive drum 31 by a laser scanner unit (not shown). As a result, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 31. Then, the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 31 is developed (visualized) as a toner image by the developing device 33. The developing device 33 is supplied with toner (developer) from the toner cartridge 34. Subsequently, the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 31 is transferred onto the sheet by the transfer roller 35. Thereafter, the toner image transferred to the sheet is heated and fused by the fixing roller 37 when the sheet passes between the fixing roller 37 and the pressure roller 38 and is discharged. The potential of the photosensitive drum 31 is neutralized by the neutralization device 36.

  The image forming unit 3 includes a mounting unit 3A as shown in FIG. A toner cartridge 34 can be attached to and detached from the mounting portion 3A.

  The toner cartridge 34 is provided with a nonvolatile memory 34A. The nonvolatile memory 34A stores, for example, information such as identification information of the toner cartridge 34, quality determination information, and a remaining amount of toner to be stored. The control unit 7 can read information from the nonvolatile memory 34A and write information to the nonvolatile memory 34A through a contact terminal (not shown) provided in the mounting unit 3A.

  The sheet feeding unit 4 supplies sheets to the image forming unit 3. For example, the sheet is a sheet material such as paper, coated paper, postcard, envelope, and OHP sheet.

  The operation display unit 5 includes a display unit such as a liquid crystal display that displays various types of information in response to control instructions from the control unit 7, and an operation key or touch panel that inputs various types of information to the overall control unit in response to user operations. And so on.

  The storage unit 6 is a non-volatile storage unit such as a flash memory. The storage unit 6 stores various control programs executed by the control unit 7, data, and the like.

  The control unit 7 includes control devices such as a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM. The CPU is a processor that executes various arithmetic processes. The ROM is a non-volatile storage unit in which information such as a control program for causing the CPU to execute various processes is stored in advance. The RAM is a volatile or nonvolatile storage unit used as a temporary storage memory (working area) for various processes executed by the CPU.

  Specifically, the control unit 7 includes a predicted print number acquisition unit 71, a desired print number acquisition unit 72 (an example of the “set number acquisition unit” of the present invention), and an operation condition change unit 73. The control unit 7 functions as each processing unit by executing various processes according to the control program. In addition, the control unit 7 may include an electronic circuit that realizes a part or a plurality of processing functions of each processing unit.

  In general, the amount of toner contained in the toner cartridge 34 is determined for each type of toner cartridge 34. Therefore, the number of printable sheets under standard printing conditions (for example, A4 plain paper, printing ratio 5%, single-sided continuous printing) is also determined for each type of toner cartridge 34. However, there is a case where it is desired to print a larger number of sheets than the printable number because the image quality may be lowered in order to reduce the running cost. Specifically, there may be a case where it is desired to perform, for example, a printing process of 20,000 sheets using the toner cartridge 34 that can print 10,000 sheets under standard printing conditions. However, in such a case, in a general image forming apparatus, the user needs to manually perform settings such as reducing the image density. Also, the user does not know how to set 20,000 sheets to be printed. On the other hand, in the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, when the toner cartridge 34 mounted on the mounting unit 3A is continuously used by the operation of the control unit 7 as described below, the user's desired printing is performed. The possibility that the number of sheets can be printed is increased.

[Operation of control unit 7]
The estimated number-of-print-sheets acquisition unit 71 is configured to execute a predetermined toner consumption operation according to a predetermined standard operation condition based on information on the toner amount in the toner cartridge 34 mounted in the mounting unit 3A. The estimated number of prints of the toner cartridge 34 is acquired. Here, the predicted number of printed sheets is an estimated value of the remaining number of printable sheets when the toner cartridge 34 is continuously used under standard printing conditions (for example, A4 plain paper, printing ratio 5%, single-sided continuous printing). It is. The toner consumption operation and the standard operation condition will be described later.

  For example, when the toner cartridge 34 attached to the attachment unit 3A is a new product that has just been attached to the attachment unit 3A, the predicted print number acquisition unit 71 includes the non-volatile memory 34A provided in the toner cartridge 34. Then, the information of the model number of the toner cartridge 34 (an example of “information relating to toner amount” of the present invention) is read out. The predicted print number acquisition unit 71 then stores the toner cartridge from a table (an example of “information relating to toner amount” according to the present invention) that is stored in advance in the storage unit 6 and the like and shows a correspondence relationship between the model number and the predicted print number. The predicted number of printed sheets corresponding to 34 model numbers can be acquired. When information on the estimated number of printed sheets (an example of “information relating to toner amount” of the present invention) is recorded in advance in the nonvolatile memory 34A, the estimated number of printed sheets acquisition unit 71 simply reads out the information. The predicted number of prints can be acquired.

  Further, for example, when the toner cartridge 34 attached to the attachment unit 3A is already used in the image forming apparatus 10, the predicted number-of-prints acquisition unit 71 indicates that the toner cartridge 34 is attached to the attachment unit 3A. The predicted number of printed sheets can be acquired based on the total number of printed sheets in a certain period (an example of “information relating to toner amount” of the present invention). For example, the predicted print number acquisition unit 71 can acquire the predicted print number at the present time by subtracting the total print number from the predicted print number of a new article acquired based on the model number. The information on the total number of printed sheets is recorded in a nonvolatile manner in the storage unit 6 or the like, for example, and is updated every time an image forming operation is performed. The predicted number-of-print-sheets acquisition unit 71 performs the predicted printing based on the total number of dots printed on the sheet during the period in which the toner cartridge 34 is mounted on the mounting unit 3A (an example of “information relating to toner amount” of the present invention). The number of sheets may be acquired. Further, the predicted number-of-prints acquisition unit 71 outputs an output (an optical sensor, a weight sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, etc.) of an arbitrary method capable of detecting the remaining amount of toner in the toner cartridge 34 (“toner amount related” The predicted number of printed sheets may be acquired based on an example of “information”.

  The desired print number acquisition unit 72 acquires the user's desired print number (an example of the “set number” in the present invention) based on the input from the operation display unit 5. For example, the desired print number acquisition unit 72 may display a desired print number setting screen 80 as shown in FIG. 3 on the operation display unit 5 when a new toner cartridge 34 is mounted in the mounting unit 3A. . The desired print number acquisition unit 72 may display a desired print number setting screen 80 on the operation display unit 5 when a predetermined setting start operation by the user is detected. The desired print number setting screen 80 includes an input field 81 for inputting the desired print number and a determination button 82 for confirming the setting contents. On the desired print number setting screen 80, the predicted print number acquired by the predicted print number acquisition unit 71 is displayed as "remaining printable number of sheets under standard operating conditions". The desired print number setting screen 80 displays a lower limit value (here, 10000) and an upper limit value (here, 30000) of the desired print number that can be set by the user. The lower limit value is, for example, the same number as the predicted print number. The upper limit value is, for example, a number obtained by multiplying the predicted number of printed sheets by a coefficient (here, 3) larger than a predetermined one. The user can input a desired desired number of printed sheets from the range from the lower limit value to the upper limit value. The reason why the upper limit value is set by the coefficient is to keep the minimum image quality.

  The desired number-of-print-sheets acquisition unit 72 is based on input from a communication I / F (not shown) (an example of the “input unit” of the present invention), that is, input from an information processing apparatus such as an external personal computer. The desired number of prints may be acquired.

  The operating condition changing unit 73 can be executed in the image forming apparatus 10 during a period until the toner cartridge 34 mounted on the mounting unit 3A is replaced based on the ratio between the predicted number of printed sheets and the desired number of printed sheets. The operating condition of the toner consumption operation is changed. The toner consumption operation is an operation that involves toner consumption among various operations executed in the image forming apparatus 10. The toner consumption operation includes an image forming operation in which the toner is consumed by being transferred to the sheet, and a maintenance operation in which the toner is consumed without being transferred to the sheet. That is, some of the toner replenished from the toner cartridge 34 is transferred to the sheet by the image forming operation, and the remaining toner is consumed by the maintenance operation. The toner consumed by the maintenance operation is collected, for example, as a waste toner in a waste toner container. Examples of the maintenance operation include, for example, a deteriorated toner discharge operation that discharges the deteriorated toner in the developing device 33, and a calibration operation that forms a test pattern on the surface of the photosensitive drum 31 to correct misalignment and the like. .

  The operating condition changing unit 73 can change the operating condition of one or both of the image forming operation and the maintenance operation in accordance with the ratio between the predicted print number and the desired print number. For example, the operation condition changing unit 73 may change the density of the image formed on the sheet in the image forming operation according to the ratio. Specifically, the operation condition changing unit 73 may reduce the density of the image formed on the sheet in the image forming operation as the ratio of the desired print number to the predicted print number is larger. Various methods are conceivable as a method of reducing the density of the image formed on the sheet. For example, the density value of the image data to be processed may be changed, the development bias or the transfer bias may be changed, or the dots of the image formed on the sheet may be thinned out.

  Further, the operation condition changing unit 73 may change the toner amount used in the maintenance operation according to the ratio. Specifically, the operation condition changing unit 73 increases the amount of toner used in the maintenance operation (that is, the amount of toner used in one maintenance operation) as the ratio of the desired number of printed sheets to the predicted number of printed sheets increases. ) May be reduced. For example, the discharge amount per time in the deteriorated toner discharge operation may be reduced, or the density or size of the test pattern used in the calibration operation may be reduced.

  In addition, the operation condition changing unit 73 may change the operation frequency of the maintenance operation according to the ratio. Specifically, the operation condition changing unit 73 may reduce the operation frequency of the maintenance operation as the ratio of the desired print number to the predicted print number is larger.

  For example, the operating condition changing unit 73 may change the operating conditions of the image forming operation and the maintenance operation based on an operating condition table 90 as shown in FIG. The operating condition table 90 is recorded in advance in the ROM or the storage unit 6 or the like. The operation condition table 90 shows the correspondence between the ratio of the desired number of printed sheets to the predicted number of printed sheets (hereinafter referred to as “ratio R”) and the operating conditions of the image forming operation and the maintenance operation. For example, when the ratio R is 100%, the predicted number of printed sheets is equal to the desired number of printed sheets. Therefore, the operating conditions of the image forming operation and the maintenance operation are predetermined standard operating conditions (default operating conditions). ) Is the same. On the other hand, when the ratio R is 200%, since the desired number of printed sheets is twice the predicted number of printed sheets, it is necessary to suppress the toner consumption pace to half or less than that in the standard operating condition. Therefore, in the operation condition table 90 shown in FIG. 4, the density of the image formed on the sheet in the image forming operation is suppressed to 50% in the standard operation condition, and the toner amount used in the maintenance operation is the standard operation. The operating frequency of the maintenance operation is suppressed to 50% of the standard operating condition. When the ratio R is 300%, the desired number of printed sheets is three times the predicted number of printed sheets, and therefore it is necessary to suppress the toner consumption pace to one-third or less of the standard operating conditions. Therefore, in the operation condition table 90 shown in FIG. 4, the density of the image formed on the sheet in the image forming operation is suppressed to 30% of the standard operation condition, and the toner amount used in the maintenance operation is the standard operation. The operation frequency of the maintenance operation is suppressed to 30% of the standard operation condition. Of course, the operating condition table 90 shown in FIG. 4 is merely an example. In creating the operation condition table 90, for example, an experiment or the like may be performed to select operation conditions that maintain as good image quality as possible for each ratio R. The maintenance operation performed in the image forming apparatus 10 includes not only an effect of maintaining the image quality but also an effect of protecting a member (such as a cleaning blade) included in the image forming apparatus 10. Therefore, from such a viewpoint, the operation condition table 90 in which the operation condition of the image forming operation (for example, the density of the image formed on the sheet) is preferentially changed over the operation condition of the maintenance operation is preferable. It can be said.

  The control unit 7 executes the image forming operation and the maintenance operation in accordance with the operation condition after the change by the operation condition changing unit 73 at least until the toner cartridge 34 attached to the attachment unit 3A is replaced. . As a result, when the toner cartridge 34 attached to the attachment portion 3A is continuously used, there is a high possibility that the user can perform the printing process of the desired number of prints. For example, even if it is desired to print 20,000 sheets using the toner cartridge 34 having a printable number of 10,000 sheets, a simple operation of inputting the desired number of prints can be performed for 20,000 sheets. The possibility of being able to do becomes high.

[Operation condition change processing]
Next, an example of the procedure of the operation condition changing process executed by the control unit 7 will be described with reference to FIG. Here, steps S1, S2,... Represent processing procedure (step) numbers executed by the control unit 7. The operating condition changing process is started, for example, in response to the power supply of the image forming apparatus 10 being turned on, and is then ended in response to the power supply of the image forming apparatus 10 being turned off.

<Step S1>
First, in step S1, the control unit 7 determines whether or not a new toner cartridge 34 is mounted on the mounting unit 3A. If it is determined that a new toner cartridge 34 is mounted on the mounting portion 3A (S1: Yes), the process proceeds to step S2. On the other hand, if it is determined that a new toner cartridge 34 is not attached to the attachment portion 3A (that is, the toner cartridge 34 already used in the image forming apparatus 10 is continuously attached) (S1: No). The process proceeds to step S2. The determination as to whether or not a new toner cartridge 34 has been attached to the attachment unit 3A is based on, for example, information read from the nonvolatile memory 34A provided in the toner cartridge 34 attached to the attachment unit 3A. To be judged.

<Step S2>
In step S2, the control unit 7 determines whether or not a predetermined setting start operation by the user has been detected. If it is determined that the setting start operation has been detected (S2: Yes), the process proceeds to step S3. On the other hand, if it is determined that the setting start operation has not been detected (S2: No), the process returns to step S1.

<Step S3>
In step S3, the control unit 7 acquires the predicted number of printed sheets. For example, the control unit 7 acquires the predicted number of prints based on information read from the nonvolatile memory 34A provided in the toner cartridge 34 attached to the attachment unit 3A. Alternatively, the control unit 7 acquires the predicted number of printed sheets based on the total number of printed sheets during the period in which the toner cartridge 34 is mounted on the mounting unit 3A.

<Step S4>
In step S <b> 4, the control unit 7 displays a desired print number setting screen 80 as shown in FIG. 3 on the operation display unit 5, for example. And the control part 7 receives the input of the said desired number of printed sheets from a user.

<Step S5>
In step S <b> 5, the control unit 7 acquires the numerical value input in the input field 81 of the desired print number setting screen 80 as the desired print number.

<Step S6>
In step S6, the control unit 7 calculates the ratio between the expected number of sheets and the desired number of printed sheets. Specifically, the control unit 7 calculates the ratio of the desired number of printed sheets to the expected number of sheets (the ratio R).

<Step S7>
In step S7, the control unit 7 can be executed in the image forming apparatus 10 during a period until the toner cartridge 34 mounted on the mounting unit 3A is replaced according to the ratio R calculated in step S6. The operation condition of the toner consumption operation (the image forming operation and the maintenance operation) is changed from the standard operation condition (default operation condition). For example, the control unit 7 acquires an operation condition corresponding to the ratio R calculated in step S6 from the operation condition table 90 as shown in FIG. 4 recorded in advance in the ROM or the storage unit 6 or the like. .

  When the process of step S7 ends, the process returns to step S1. As a result, the operating condition after the change in step S7 is performed in a period until the toner cartridge 34 mounted in the mounting unit 3A is replaced with another one or the setting start operation is detected next. Accordingly, the image forming operation and the maintenance operation are executed.

  Note that the process of step S3 is executed by the predicted print number acquisition unit 71 of the control unit 7. The processes of steps S4 and S5 are executed by the desired number-of-prints acquisition unit 72 of the control unit 7. The processing in steps S6 and S7 is executed by the operating condition changing unit 73 of the control unit 7.

[Modification]
Even after the operation condition changing unit 73 changes the operation condition of the image forming operation (specifically, the density of the image formed on the sheet), the user can adjust the image density as necessary. You may comprise so that it can change temporarily. For example, when the operation condition changing unit 73 changes the image density to 50% of the standard operation condition, when the user uses the copy function, the copy setting screen 100 as shown in FIG. May be displayed on the operation display unit 5. The copy setting screen 100 has an input field 101 for inputting the number of copies, and a plurality of levels (here, 5 levels) centered on a reference density (50% density under standard operating conditions). A density selection button 102 selectable from the level, a button 103 for temporarily returning the reference density to the density at the standard operating condition only during the current copy process, and a start button 104 for starting the copy process It is included. The user can temporarily change the image density from the reference density by operating the desired density selection button 102. Further, the user can temporarily return the reference density to the density at the standard operating condition by operating the button 103. The same applies not only to the case of using the copy function but also to the case of using a print function, a facsimile function or the like.

  In order to increase the possibility that the user can perform the printing process of the desired number of prints when the toner cartridge 34 mounted in the mounting unit 3A is continuously used, the operation condition changing unit 73 is configured to perform the toner consumption operation. The operating conditions may be automatically updated as necessary. For example, if the printing process is repeatedly executed so that the printing ratio greatly exceeds 5%, the amount of toner consumed per sheet (that is, the toner consumption pace) increases. There is a possibility that the toner cartridge 34 is emptied before it is displayed. Therefore, the operating condition changing unit 73 periodically monitors the toner consumption pace based on the total number of dots printed on the sheet during the period in which the toner cartridge 34 is attached to the attachment unit 3A, and the consumption pace is set to this consumption pace. Accordingly, the operation conditions of the toner consumption operation may be automatically updated as necessary. As another example, the toner consumption pace is periodically monitored based on the output of any type of sensor (optical sensor, weight sensor, ultrasonic sensor, etc.) capable of detecting the remaining amount of toner in the toner cartridge 34. The operation conditions of the toner consumption operation may be automatically updated as necessary according to the consumption pace. For example, when the operating condition changing unit 73 determines from the toner consumption pace that the printing process of the user's desired printing number cannot be performed, the operating condition of the toner consumption operation is set so that a larger number of printing processes can be performed. May be automatically updated. On the other hand, when the operation condition changing unit 73 determines from the pace of toner consumption that the number of prints larger than the number desired by the user can be printed, the toner is set so that higher quality print processing can be performed. The operating condition of the consumption operation may be automatically updated.

  In the present embodiment, the image forming apparatus 10 is monochrome compatible. However, the present invention is not limited to this and can be applied to a color compatible image forming apparatus. In this case, the ratio may be calculated for each color, and the operation condition of the toner consumption operation may be individually changed for each color. Alternatively, the operation condition of the toner consumption operation may be changed to a uniform operation condition for all colors based on the largest ratio among the ratios calculated for each color.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the density of the image formed on the sheet in the image forming operation, the toner amount used in the maintenance operation, and the maintenance operation according to the ratio R. Although the operation frequency is changed, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, only one or two of these three may be changed according to the ratio R.

3 Image forming unit 3A Mounting unit 10 Image forming apparatus 34 Toner cartridge 34A Non-volatile memory 80 Desired print number setting screen 100 Copy setting screen

Claims (8)

A mounting part to which the toner cartridge can be attached and detached;
Based on information on the amount of toner in the toner cartridge mounted in the mounting unit, the estimated number of prints of the toner cartridge when a predetermined toner consumption operation is executed in accordance with a predetermined standard operating condition is acquired. A predicted print number acquisition unit to perform,
A set number acquisition unit for acquiring a set number based on an input from the input unit;
An operation condition changing unit that changes an operation condition of the toner consumption operation that can be executed in a period until the toner cartridge is replaced based on a ratio between the predicted number of printed sheets and the set number of sheets;
An image forming apparatus comprising: The toner consumption operation includes an image forming operation in which toner is consumed by being transferred to a sheet,
The operation condition changing unit changes the density of an image formed on a sheet in the image forming operation according to the ratio.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. The toner consumption operation includes an image forming operation in which the toner is consumed by being transferred to the sheet, and a maintenance operation in which the toner is consumed without being transferred to the sheet,
The operating condition changing unit changes operating conditions of both the image forming operation and the maintenance operation according to the ratio.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. The operation condition changing unit changes a toner amount used in the maintenance operation according to the ratio;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 3. The operation condition change unit can change the operation frequency of the maintenance operation according to the ratio.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 3 or 4.   The operation condition changing unit changes the operation condition of the toner consumption operation based on the ratio, then monitors the toner consumption pace, and automatically updates the operation condition of the toner consumption operation according to the consumption pace. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. The set number acquisition unit acquires the set number of sheets from a range in which the predicted number of printed sheets is a lower limit number and the estimated number of printed sheets is multiplied by a predetermined coefficient larger than 1 and the upper limit number is set. ,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. The set number acquisition unit acquires the set number based on an input from the input unit when at least a new toner cartridge is mounted in the mounting unit.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.

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