JP2018092056A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus that can permit execution of an image forming operation in a specific operation mode only during a specific period registered in advance.SOLUTION: An image forming part 13 forms an image on a sheet in a standard mode of forming an image on a sheet at a normal speed or a high-speed mode of forming an image on a sheet at a higher speed than the standard mode. On the basis of period information D1 registered in advance for every user, an operation control part 163 permits the operation of the image forming part 13 in the high-speed mode during a permitted period that is indicated in the period information D1 corresponding to a user identified by a user identification processing part 161, and operates the image forming part 13 in the standard mode during a period other than the permitted period.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.

  An image can be formed on a sheet at a first speed or a second speed higher than the first speed, and only a specific user registered in advance is allowed to execute an image forming operation at the second speed. An image forming apparatus that can do this is known (for example, see Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2015-114446

  However, in the image forming apparatus, it is possible to permit only a specific user registered in advance to execute the image forming operation at the second speed, but only at a predetermined period registered in advance. The execution of the image forming operation cannot be permitted.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of permitting execution of an image forming operation in a specific operation mode only in a specific period registered in advance.

  An image forming apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes an image forming unit, a user identification processing unit, and an operation control unit. The image forming unit forms an image on the sheet in the first operation mode or in a second operation mode in which an image is formed on the sheet at a higher speed than in the first operation mode. The user identification processing unit identifies a user. The operation control unit is configured to display the image in the second operation mode within a permission period indicated by the period information corresponding to a user identified by the user identification processing unit based on period information registered in advance. The operation of the forming unit is permitted, and the image forming unit is operated in the first operation mode outside the permission period.

  An image forming apparatus according to another aspect of the present invention includes an image forming unit, a user identification processing unit, and an operation control unit. The image forming unit forms an image on the sheet in the first operation mode or in a second operation mode in which an image with higher image quality than the first operation mode is formed on the sheet. The user identification processing unit identifies a user. The operation control unit is configured to display the image in the second operation mode within a permission period indicated by the period information corresponding to a user identified by the user identification processing unit based on period information registered in advance. The operation of the forming unit is permitted, and the image forming unit is operated in the first operation mode outside the permission period.

  According to the present invention, an image forming apparatus capable of permitting an image forming operation in a specific operation mode only in a specific period registered in advance is provided.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of period information used in the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure of control processing executed by the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a 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]
As shown in FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an operation display unit 10, an ADF (Auto Document Feeder) 11, an image reading unit 12, an image forming unit 13, a communication I / F 14, and a storage. Unit 15 and control unit 16. Specifically, the image forming apparatus 1 is a multifunction machine having a printer function, a scanner function, a copy function, a facsimile function, and the like. The present invention is not limited to a multi-function machine, and can be applied to any image forming apparatus such as a copier, a printer, and a facsimile machine.

  The operation display unit 10 includes a display unit such as a liquid crystal display that displays information, and an operation unit such as a touch panel and operation buttons that accept user operations.

  The ADF 11 is an automatic document conveyance device that includes a document setting unit, a conveyance roller, a document pressing unit, and a paper discharge unit, and conveys a document to be read by the image reading unit 12.

  The image reading unit 12 includes a document table, a light source, a mirror, an optical lens, and a CCD (Charge Coupled Device), and can read an image of the document and output it as image data.

  The image forming unit 13 can execute a printing process based on image data by an electrophotographic method or an inkjet method, and forms an image on a sheet based on the image data. For example, when the image forming unit 13 is an electrophotographic image forming unit, the image forming unit 13 includes a photosensitive drum, a charger, an exposure device, a developing device, a transfer device, and a fixing device.

  The image forming unit 13 forms an image on the sheet in a standard mode for forming an image on the sheet at a normal speed, or in a high-speed mode for forming an image on the sheet at a higher speed than the standard mode. The standard mode is an example of the first operation mode of the present invention, and the high speed mode is an example of the second operation mode of the present invention.

  The communication I / F 14 can execute communication processing according to a predetermined communication protocol with the server apparatus 2, an external facsimile apparatus, an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer, and the like via the communication network N1. It is a communication interface.

  The storage unit 15 is a non-volatile storage unit such as a hard disk or an EEPROM (registered trademark). The storage unit 15 stores various control programs executed by the control unit 16, various data, and the like.

  The control unit 16 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 16 includes a user identification processing unit 161, a period information acquisition unit 162, and an operation control unit 163. The control unit 16 functions as each of these processing units by executing various processes according to the control program. Moreover, the control part 16 may be provided with the electronic circuit which implement | achieves a part or some processing function of each of these process parts.

  The user identification processing unit 161 identifies a user who is using the image forming apparatus 1 (that is, a user who is logged in to the image forming apparatus 1). For example, the user identification processing unit 161 may identify a user based on a user ID read by a card reader (not shown) from an IC card carried by the user. Alternatively, the user identification processing unit 161 may identify a user based on a user ID input by the user on a login screen (not shown) displayed on the operation display unit 10.

  Incidentally, as described above, the image forming unit 13 can form an image in the standard mode or the high-speed mode. However, in the high speed mode, there is a problem that a larger load is applied to the image forming unit 13 than in the standard mode, and wear of members such as gears is accelerated. Therefore, it is conceivable to limit the users who can use the image forming operation in the high-speed mode and permit the image forming operation in the high-speed mode only to specific users registered in advance. However, in this case, since the specific user is always permitted to perform the image forming operation in the high speed mode, the high speed mode is abused when the necessity of using the high speed mode is low, and the image forming unit 13 is burdened. In addition, since the image forming operation in the high-speed mode is always prohibited for users other than the specific user, the high-speed mode should be used even when, for example, the user wants to use the high-speed mode only for several days at the end of each month. I can't. On the other hand, in the image forming apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, execution of an image forming operation in a specific operation mode is permitted only in a specific period registered in advance by the configuration and operation described below. Is possible.

  The period information acquisition unit 162 acquires period information D1 from the server device 2 via the communication I / F 14 and the communication network N1. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, period information D <b> 1 is registered in advance in the server device 2 for each user. Then, the period information acquisition unit 162 acquires period information D1 corresponding to the user identified by the user identification processing unit 161 from the server device 2.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the period information D <b> 1 includes information on a user ID, a permission month, a permission date, a permission day, and a permission time zone. The user ID is identification information for identifying a user corresponding to the period information D1. The permitted month indicates a month in which the execution of the image forming operation in the high-speed mode is permitted (that is, one or more months from January to December). The permitted date indicates a date when the execution of the image forming operation in the high-speed mode is permitted (that is, one or a plurality of days from 1st to 31st). The permitted day of the week indicates a day of the week on which execution of the image forming operation in the high-speed mode is permitted (that is, one or more days from Sunday to Saturday). The permitted time period indicates a time period during which the image forming operation is permitted to be performed in the high-speed mode (that is, one or a plurality of time periods from 0 to 23 hours). In addition, the permission time zone may be a time zone in units of minutes such as “8:45 to 16:55”.

  In the period information D1 shown in FIG. 2, the permission period for the user A (period in which the execution of the image forming operation in the high-speed mode is permitted) is set to the 29th to 31st of every month. The permission period for user B is set every day from 9:00 to 17:00. The permission period for the user C is set from 9:00 to 20:00 from Monday to Friday among the 16th to 31st of each month of March, June, September and December. The permission period for user D is always set. The permission period for the user E is set to the 16th to 31st of every month. The permission period for the user F is set every day from 0:00 to 6:00. The permission period for the user G is set from 9:00 to 21:00 on Saturday or Sunday in December every year.

  Note that the period information D1 shown in FIG. 2 includes information on the permitted month, the permitted date, the permitted day of the week, and the permitted time zone, but the present invention is not limited to this. In other embodiments, information on the prohibited month, prohibited date, prohibited day, and prohibited time period (that is, information indicating the prohibited period) may be included instead of these pieces of information. Since a period other than the prohibition period corresponds to the permission period, it can be said that the information indicating the prohibition period indicates the permission period.

  Based on the period information D1 acquired by the period information acquisition unit 162, the operation control unit 163 permits the operation of the image forming unit 13 in the high-speed mode within the permission period indicated by the period information D1. Outside the period, the image forming unit 13 is operated in the standard mode. Specifically, the operation control unit 163 controls the operation of the image forming unit 13 based on the period information D1 corresponding to the user identified by the user identification processing unit 161.

  The operation control unit 163 changes the operation mode of the image forming unit 13 based on the period information D1 in units of sheets or units while a job for forming images on a plurality of sheets is being executed by the image forming unit 13. It can be changed between the standard mode and the high-speed mode. For example, the execution of the job for forming an image for 500 sheets in the high-speed mode within the permission period and the permission period ends while an image is being formed on the 421st sheet The operation control unit 163 switches the operation mode of the image forming unit 13 to the standard mode immediately after the image is formed on the 421st sheet. As a result, for the 422th and subsequent sheets, an image is formed in the standard mode.

[Control processing]
Next, an example of a procedure of control processing executed by the control unit 16 will be described with reference to FIG. Here, steps S1, S2,... Represent processing procedure (step) numbers executed by the control unit 16. The control process is started in response to, for example, the power supply of the image forming apparatus 1 being turned on, and then ended in response to the power supply of the image forming apparatus 1 being turned off.

<Step S1>
First, in step S1, the control unit 16 (user identification processing unit 161) accepts a user login. And if a user logs in, a process will transfer to step S2.

<Step S2>
In step S2, the control unit 16 determines whether a setting start operation for setting a job has been performed. For example, the control unit 16 determines that the setting start operation has been performed when a copy key included in a home screen (not shown) displayed on the operation display unit 10 is operated. If it is determined that the setting start operation has been performed (S2: Yes), the process proceeds to step S3. On the other hand, if it is determined that the setting start operation has not been performed (S2: No), the process proceeds to step S12.

<Step S3>
In step S <b> 3, the control unit 16 displays a setting screen P <b> 1 as shown in FIG. 4 on the operation display unit 10, for example. The setting screen P1 shown in FIG. 4 includes radio buttons R1 to R4, input fields B1 and B2, and operation keys K1 and K2. The user can set image forming conditions such as a color mode, an output size, the number of copies, and an output speed to desired conditions through the setting screen P1. The user can arbitrarily select the standard mode or the high-speed mode as a condition regarding the output speed. Specifically, the user can select the standard mode by operating the radio button R3 and checking the radio button R3. Further, the user can select the high speed mode by operating the radio button R4 and checking the radio button R4.

<Step S4>
In step S4, the control unit 16 determines whether or not an execution start operation for starting execution of the job has been performed. For example, the control unit 16 determines that the execution start operation has been performed when the operation key K2 (or a specific hardware key provided in the operation display unit 10) included in the setting screen P1 is operated. To do. If it is determined that the execution start operation has been performed (S4: Yes), the process proceeds to step S5. On the other hand, if it is determined that the execution start operation has not been performed (S4: No), the process of step S4 is repeated until it is determined that the execution start operation has been performed.

<Step S5>
In step S5, the control unit 16 determines whether or not the high speed mode has been selected by the user. Specifically, the control unit 16 determines that the high-speed mode is selected when the radio button R4 is checked on the setting screen P1. If it is determined that the high speed mode has been selected (S5: Yes), the process proceeds to step S7. On the other hand, if it is determined that the standard mode is selected (S5: No), the process proceeds to step S6.

<Step S6>
In step S <b> 6, the control unit 16 (operation control unit 163) controls the image forming unit 13 to form an image in the standard mode on all sheets of one or a plurality of sheets to be formed with the job. . Then, the process proceeds to step S12.

<Step S7>
On the other hand, in step S <b> 7, the control unit 16 (period information acquisition unit 162) accesses the server device 2 through the communication I / F 14 and acquires the period information D <b> 1 corresponding to the logged-in user from the server device 2. For example, when the logged-in user is the user A, the control unit 16 acquires the period information D1 corresponding to the user A from the server device 2.

<Step S8>
In step S8, the control unit 16 determines whether or not the current time is within the permitted time indicated by the period information D1 based on the period information D1 acquired in step S7. For example, the control unit 16 acquires current date / time information acquired from a real-time clock (not shown) provided in the image forming apparatus 1 or current date / time information acquired from the server device 2 or an arbitrary time server (not shown). Based on the above, it is determined whether or not the current time is within the permission time. If it is determined that the current time is within the permitted time (S8: Yes), the process proceeds to step S9. On the other hand, if it is determined that the current time is outside the permitted time (S8: No), the process proceeds to step S10.

<Step S9>
In step S <b> 9, the control unit 16 (operation control unit 163) controls the image forming unit 13 to place an image in the high-speed mode on one or more sheets from which an image is to be formed by the job. Let it form. Then, the process proceeds to step S11.

<Step S10>
On the other hand, in step S10, the control unit 16 (operation control unit 163) controls the image forming unit 13 so that one of a plurality of sheets on which an image is to be formed by the job is applied in the standard mode. An image is formed. Then, the process proceeds to step S11.

<Step S11>
In step S11, the control unit 16 determines whether there is a next sheet on which an image is to be formed. If it is determined that the next sheet exists (S11: Yes), the process returns to step S8. On the other hand, if it is determined that the next sheet does not exist (that is, the job has been completed) (S11: No), the process proceeds to step S12.

<Step S12>
In step S12, the control unit 16 determines whether or not the user has logged out. If it is determined that the user has logged out (S12: Yes), the process returns to step S1. On the other hand, if it is determined that the user has not logged out (S12: No), the process returns to step S2.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the image formation in the high speed mode is performed only during the permission period indicated by the period information D1, and therefore the image forming operation in the high speed mode is permitted only during the permission period. Is possible. For example, in the case of a user who needs to print a large amount of important documents for several days at the end of every month, by registering in advance period information D1 such that the last days of the end of each month become the permission period, Execution of the image forming operation in the high-speed mode is permitted only for several days at the end of the month. Thereby, abuse of the high-speed mode can be prevented.

  In the present embodiment, since the period information D1 is registered for each user, the permission period can be individually set for each user. Accordingly, an appropriate allowable period can be set for each user in consideration of circumstances for each user. For example, when charging the user for the usage fee of the image forming apparatus 1, a relatively high fee is charged to a user whose permission period is not so limited, such as the user B shown in FIG. A relatively low fee can be charged to a user such as the user C whose permission period is greatly limited. That is, it is possible to charge a fee according to the permission period.

[Modification]
In the present embodiment, the period information D1 is stored in the server device 2, but the present invention is not limited to this. In another embodiment, the period information D1 may be stored in the storage unit 15 of the image forming apparatus 1, for example.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the period information acquisition unit 162 acquires the period information D1 from the server device 2, but the present invention is not limited to this. In another embodiment, a signal indicating whether the current time is within the permission period corresponding to the logged-in user is transmitted from the image forming apparatus 1 to the server apparatus 2, and a signal indicating an answer to the inquiry May be transmitted from the server apparatus 2 to the image forming apparatus 1. That is, the determination process of whether or not the current time is within the permission period corresponding to the logged-in user may be performed by an apparatus other than the image forming apparatus 1.

  In the present embodiment, the operation mode of the image forming unit 13 is switched between the standard mode and the high speed mode as needed on a sheet basis based on the period information D1, but the present invention is not limited to this. Not. In another embodiment, based on the period information D1, the operation mode of the image forming unit 13 may be switched as necessary in units of copies. Alternatively, the operation mode of the image forming unit 13 may be switched as needed for each job based on the period information D1.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the image forming operation in the high-speed mode is permitted only during the permission period indicated by the period information D1 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. In another embodiment, the image forming operation in the high image quality mode in which an image with higher image quality than the standard mode is formed on the sheet may be permitted only during the permission period indicated by the period information D1. As a result, the image forming operation in the high image quality mode in which the toner consumption is large is restricted, so that the toner consumption can be reduced.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 2 Server apparatus 10 Operation display part 11 ADF
12 Image Reading Unit 13 Image Forming Unit 14 Communication I / F
15 Storage Unit 16 Control Unit 161 User Identification Processing Unit 162 Period Information Acquisition Unit 163 Operation Control Unit D1 Period Information

Claims (4)

An image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet in a first operation mode or a second operation mode in which an image is formed at a higher speed than the first operation mode;
A user identification processing unit for identifying a user;
Based on the period information registered in advance for each user, the image forming unit in the second operation mode within the permission period indicated by the period information corresponding to the user identified by the user identification processing unit. An operation control unit that permits operation and operates the image forming unit in the first operation mode outside the permission period;
An image forming apparatus comprising: An image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet in a first operation mode or a second operation mode in which an image with a higher image quality than the first operation mode is formed on the sheet;
A user identification processing unit for identifying a user;
Based on the period information registered in advance for each user, the image forming unit in the second operation mode within the permission period indicated by the period information corresponding to the user identified by the user identification processing unit. An operation control unit that permits operation and operates the image forming unit in the first operation mode outside the permission period;
An image forming apparatus comprising: The operation control unit sets the operation mode of the image forming unit based on the period information in units of sheets or units while a job for forming an image on a plurality of sheets is being executed by the image forming unit. Changeable between the first operation mode and the second operation mode;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. The period information includes information indicating at least one of a month, a day, a day of the week, and a time zone in which the operation of the image forming unit in the second operation mode is permitted.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.

Images