JP2019101354A - Image forming apparatus and image formation method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an image forming apparatus in which such a problem is suppressed that quality of an image formed by using a first replacement component is more deteriorated than the quality of an image formed by using a second replacement component.SOLUTION: An image forming apparatus 100 comprises an image forming part A4, a first determination part 53, a storage part 6, a first reception part 54, a first calculation part 55, and a change part 56. The image formation part A4 forms an image in a recording medium. The first determination part 53 determines whether a replacement component is a first replacement component or a second replacement component. The storage part 6 stores information showing a first density characteristic and a second density characteristic. The first reception part 54 receives a first setting value showing the value of setting density. The first calculation part 55 calculates a second setting value on the basis of the first density characteristic, the second density characteristic and the first setting value when the replacement component is determined to be the first replacement component. The change part 56 changes the first setting value to the second setting value, and sets the second setting value in the image formation part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

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

  The image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit, a genuine / non-genuine discriminating unit, a storage unit, and a control unit. The image forming unit performs a printing operation for printing data to be printed on a sheet. The genuine / non-genuine discriminating means is attached exchangeably, and judges whether the consumable unit having the consumable which is consumed by the repetition of the printing operation is a genuine product or a non-genuine product. The storage means stores information on a charging method for printing. If the mounted consumable unit is determined to be a non-genuine product by the genuine / non-genuine discriminating unit, the control unit consumes the non-genuine product based on the information on the charging method stored in the storage unit. Permits or restricts the printing operation by the imaging unit using the product unit. According to the image forming apparatus described in Patent Document 1, the use of a non-genuine consumable unit can be limited, and printing can be performed by a genuine consumable unit with guaranteed quality.

JP, 2009-8757, A

  However, when permitting the printing operation using the non-genuine consumable unit, the image forming apparatus described in Patent Document 1 operates in the same manner as the printing operation using the genuine consumable unit. Therefore, the quality of the image formed using the non-genuine consumables unit (first replacement part) is compared with the quality of the image formed using the genuine consumables unit (second replacement part). May decrease.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and the quality of the image formed using the first replacement part is lower than the quality of the image formed using the second replacement part. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus and an image forming method that can be suppressed.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, an image forming unit, a first determination unit, a storage unit, a first reception unit, a first calculation unit, and a change unit are provided. The image forming unit forms an image on a recording medium by mounting a replacement part and consuming consumables stored in the replacement part. The first determination unit determines whether the replacement part is a first replacement part or a second replacement part different from the first replacement part. The storage unit stores information indicating a first density characteristic and information indicating a second density characteristic.
The first concentration characteristic indicates the relationship between the set concentration and the formation concentration when the replacement part is the first replacement part. The second concentration characteristic indicates the relationship between the set concentration and the formation concentration when the replacement part is the second replacement part. The set density indicates the density set for the image forming unit. The formed density indicates the density of an image formed on the recording medium by the image forming unit. The first receiving unit receives a first set value indicating the value of the set concentration. The first calculation unit is based on the first density characteristic, the second density characteristic, and the first setting value when the first determination unit determines that the replacement part is the first replacement part. To calculate a second set value. The change unit changes the first set value to the second set value, and sets the second set value in the image forming unit. The value of the formation concentration corresponding to the second set value in the first concentration characteristic matches the value of the formation concentration corresponding to the first set value in the second concentration characteristic.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, an image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit, a first determination unit, a storage unit, a first reception unit, a first calculation unit, and a change unit. The image forming unit forms an image on a recording medium by mounting a replacement part and consuming consumables stored in the replacement part. The first determination unit determines whether the replacement part is a first replacement part or a second replacement part different from the first replacement part. The storage unit stores information indicating a density characteristic and information indicating a reference density characteristic. The concentration characteristic indicates the relationship between the set concentration and the formation concentration when the replacement part is the first replacement part. The reference density characteristic indicates the relationship between the set density and the formed density when the value of the set density matches the value of the formed density. The set density indicates the density set for the image forming unit. The formed density indicates the density of an image formed on the recording medium by the image forming unit. The first receiving unit receives a first set value indicating the value of the set concentration. When the first determination unit determines that the replacement part is the first replacement part, the first calculation unit may determine whether the replacement part is the first replacement part based on the density characteristic, the reference density characteristic, and the first setting value. 2 Calculate the set value. The change unit changes the first set value to the second set value, and sets the second set value in the image forming unit. The value of the formation density corresponding to the second set value in the density characteristic matches the value of the formation density corresponding to the first set value in the reference density characteristic.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, an image forming method is an image forming method executed by an image forming apparatus including an image forming unit and a storage unit, and the method includes a determination step, a reception step, and a calculation step. , Change step. The image forming unit forms an image on a recording medium by mounting a replacement part and consuming consumables stored in the replacement part. The storage unit stores information indicating a first density characteristic and information indicating a second density characteristic. The determination step determines whether the replacement part is a first replacement part or a second replacement part different from the first replacement part. The receiving step receives a first set value indicating a value of the set concentration. In the calculation step, when the first determination unit determines that the replacement part is the first replacement part in the determination step, the first density characteristic, the second density characteristic, and the first setting value are used. Based on the second set value is calculated. The changing step changes the first set value to the second set value, and sets the second set value in the image forming unit. The first concentration characteristic indicates the relationship between the set concentration and the formation concentration when the replacement part is the first replacement part. The second concentration characteristic indicates the relationship between the set concentration and the formation concentration when the replacement part is the second replacement part. The set density indicates the density set for the image forming unit. The formed density indicates the density of an image formed on the recording medium by the image forming unit. The value of the formation concentration corresponding to the second set value in the first concentration characteristic matches the value of the formation concentration corresponding to the first set value in the second concentration characteristic.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, an image forming method is an image forming method executed by an image forming apparatus including an image forming unit and a storage unit, and the method includes a determination step, a receiving step, and a calculation step. , Change step. The image forming unit forms an image on a recording medium by mounting a replacement part and consuming consumables stored in the replacement part. The storage unit stores information indicating density characteristics and information indicating reference density characteristics. The determination step determines whether the replacement part is a first replacement part or a second replacement part different from the first replacement part. The receiving step receives a first set value indicating a value of the set concentration. The calculation step is based on the density characteristic, the reference density characteristic, and the first set value, when the first determination unit determines that the replacement part is the first replacement part in the determination step. Calculate the second set value. The changing step changes the first set value to the second set value, and sets the second set value in the image forming unit. The concentration characteristic indicates the relationship between the set concentration and the formation concentration when the replacement part is the first replacement part. The reference density characteristic indicates the relationship between the set density and the formed density when the value of the set density matches the value of the formed density. The set density indicates the density set for the image forming unit. The formed density indicates the density of an image formed on the recording medium by the image forming unit. The value of the formation density corresponding to the second set value in the density characteristic matches the value of the formation density corresponding to the first set value in the reference density characteristic.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to suppress deterioration in the quality of an image formed using the first replacement part as compared to the quality of an image formed using the second replacement part.

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the density | concentration characteristic of the replacement part which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the maximum value of the distance of the 1st concentration curve which concerns on this embodiment, and a 2nd concentration curve. It is a flowchart which shows the process which the control part which concerns on this embodiment performs. It is a flowchart which shows the determination processing which the control part which concerns on this embodiment performs. FIG. 10 is a view showing an example of density characteristics of a toner container according to a first modification of the embodiment. (A) is a figure which shows an example of the histogram which concerns on the 2nd modification of this embodiment. (B) is a figure which shows the other example of the histogram which concerns on a 2nd modification. It is a flowchart which shows the determination processing which the control part which concerns on a 2nd modification performs.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding portions are denoted by the same reference characters and description thereof will not be repeated.

  An image forming apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. First, the image forming apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing an image forming apparatus 100. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 100 is an electrophotographic image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus 100 is, for example, a printer, a copier, or a multifunction peripheral.

  The image forming apparatus 100 includes a feeding unit A1, a conveyance unit A2, a toner supply unit A3, an image forming unit A4, a discharge unit A5, a document conveyance unit A6, a reading unit A7, and an input unit A8. A communication unit A 9, a control unit 5, and a storage unit 6 are provided.

  The feeding unit A1 accommodates a plurality of sheets P. The sheet P is, for example, a sheet. The feeding unit A1 feeds the sheet P to the conveyance unit A2. The conveyance unit A2 conveys the sheet P to the image forming unit A4. The transport unit A2 includes a plurality of transport rollers. The sheet P corresponds to an example of “recording medium”.

  The toner supply unit A3 supplies toner to the image forming unit A4. "Toner" corresponds to an example of "consumables". Specifically, the toner supply unit A3 includes a plurality of toner containers 41 (toner containers 41a to 41d in the first embodiment) that store toners of different colors, and a plurality of readers RD. Each of the toner containers 41 is attached to the image forming apparatus 100. Each of the toner containers 41 is detachable from the image forming apparatus 100. The toner container 41 corresponds to an example of the “replacement part”.

  The toner container 41a contains yellow toner, and supplies the yellow toner to the image forming unit A4. The toner container 41b contains magenta toner and supplies the magenta toner to the image forming unit A4. The toner container 41c contains cyan toner and supplies cyan toner to the image forming unit A4. The toner container 41d accommodates a black toner and supplies the black toner to the image forming unit A4.

  Each of the toner containers 41 includes an IC (Integrated Circuit) tag G. The IC tag G is disposed on the circumferential surface of the toner container 41. The IC tag G stores identification information of the toner container 41. The plurality of readers RD are arranged corresponding to the plurality of toner containers 41, respectively. The reader RD reads the identification information of the toner container 41 from the IC tag G.

  The image forming unit A4 consumes the toner contained in the toner container 41 and forms an image based on the image data on the sheet P.

  Specifically, the image forming unit A4 includes an exposure unit 11, a plurality of image forming units 13 (in the first embodiment, the image forming units 13a to 13d), the intermediate transfer belt 15, the secondary transfer roller 17, and fixing. Section 19 is included.

  The exposure unit 11 irradiates each of the image forming units 13 with light based on the image data to form an electrostatic latent image on each of the image forming units 13. The image forming unit 13a forms a yellow toner image based on the electrostatic latent image, and the image forming unit 13b forms a magenta toner image based on the electrostatic latent image. The image forming unit 13 c forms a cyan toner image based on the electrostatic latent image, and the image forming unit 13 d forms a black toner image based on the electrostatic latent image.

  On the outer surface of the intermediate transfer belt 15, toner images of a plurality of colors are superimposed and transferred from a plurality of image forming units 13, and an image is formed. The secondary transfer roller 17 transfers the image formed on the outer surface of the intermediate transfer belt 15 to the sheet P. The fixing unit 19 heats and presses the sheet P to fix the image on the sheet P.

  More specifically, each of the image forming units 13 includes a photosensitive drum 30, a charging unit 31, a developing unit 33, a primary transfer roller 35, and a cleaning unit 37. The plurality of photosensitive drums 30 abut the outer surface of the intermediate transfer belt 15 and are arranged along the rotation direction of the intermediate transfer belt 15. The plurality of primary transfer rollers 35 are provided corresponding to the plurality of photosensitive drums 30 and face the plurality of photosensitive drums 30 via the intermediate transfer belt 15.

  The charging unit 31 charges the circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 30. Light is irradiated on the circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 30 by the exposure unit 11 to form an electrostatic latent image. The developing unit 33 adheres toner to the electrostatic latent image, develops the electrostatic latent image, and forms a toner image on the circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 30. The primary transfer roller 35 transfers the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 30 to the outer surface of the intermediate transfer belt 15. The cleaning unit 37 removes the toner remaining on the circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 30.

  The conveyance unit A2 conveys the sheet P on which the image is formed by the image forming unit A4 to the discharge unit A5. The discharge unit A5 discharges the sheet P to the outside of the image forming apparatus 100. The discharge part A5 includes a discharge roller.

  The document conveyance unit A6 conveys the document R to the reading unit A7. The reading unit A 7 reads an original image formed on the original R and generates image data indicating the original image. The input unit A8 receives an input from the user. The input unit A8 includes a display unit 45 that displays various images. The display unit 45 includes, for example, a liquid crystal display. In addition, the display unit 45 receives an input by a touch of the user.

  The communication unit A9 includes a communication module such as a LAN (Local Area Network) board. The communication unit A10 communicates with a server (hereinafter, referred to as "server SV") via a network such as a LAN and the Internet.

  The server SV stores data transmitted and received between the server SV and the image forming apparatus 100.

The control unit 5 includes a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The storage unit 6 includes a storage device and stores data and computer programs.
The storage unit 6 includes a main storage device such as a semiconductor memory and an auxiliary storage device such as a semiconductor memory and / or a hard disk drive. The storage unit 6 may include removable media.

  Next, the control unit 5 of the image forming apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the image forming apparatus 100. As shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 5 includes an acquisition unit 52, a first determination unit 53, a first reception unit 54, a first calculation unit 55, and a change unit 56. Specifically, the processor of the control unit 5 executes a computer program stored in the storage device of the storage unit 6 to obtain an acquisition unit 52, a first determination unit 53, a first reception unit 54, and a first calculation unit 55. Functions as the change unit 56.

  The storage unit 6 stores identification information of the toner container 41. Specifically, the storage unit 6 stores identification information of the first container TC1 and identification information of the second container TC2. More specifically, the identification information of each of the plurality of first containers TC1 corresponding to the plurality of colors and the identification information of each of the plurality of second containers TC2 corresponding to the plurality of colors are stored. The first container TC1 is, for example, a non-dedicated container. The second container TC2 is different from the first container TC1. The second container TC2 is, for example, a dedicated container. The first container TC1 corresponds to an example of the "first replacement part", and the second container TC2 corresponds to an example of the "second replacement part".

  In addition, the storage unit 6 corresponds to information indicating the density characteristics (hereinafter referred to as “first density characteristics”) of each of the plurality of first containers TC1 respectively corresponding to the plurality of colors and to the plurality of colors. And information indicating the density characteristics (hereinafter referred to as "second density characteristics") of each of the plurality of second containers TC2 to be stored. Specifically, the first density characteristic indicates the relationship between the set density and the formed density when the toner container 41 is the first container TC1. The second density characteristic indicates the relationship between the set density and the formed density when the toner container 41 is the second container TC2. In the present specification, the set density indicates the density set for the image forming unit A4. The formed density indicates the density of the image formed on the recording medium by the image forming unit A4.

  The acquisition unit 52 acquires information indicating the first density characteristic from the storage unit 6 and also acquires information indicating the second concentration characteristic from the storage unit 6 based on the identification information acquired via the reader RD.

  The first determination unit 53 determines whether the toner container 41 is the first container TC1 or the second container TC2 different from the first container TC1. Specifically, the first determination unit 53 acquires the identification information of the toner container 41 from each of the readers RD. The first determination unit 53 determines whether the toner container 41 is the first container TC1 or the second container TC2 based on the identification information acquired from the reader RD and the identification information stored in the storage unit 6 Determine The determination as to whether the toner container 41 is the first container TC1 or the second container TC2 is performed for each toner container 41.

  The first accepting unit 54 accepts the first set value. Specifically, in response to an instruction to form an image on the sheet P, the first accepting unit 54 accepts the first setting value. The first set value indicates the value of the set concentration. Specifically, the first reception unit 54 receives the first setting value for each pixel of the image.

  When the first determination unit 53 determines that the toner container 41 is the first container TC1, the first calculation unit 55 performs the second calculation based on the first density characteristic, the second density characteristic, and the first setting value. Calculate the set value. The second set value indicates the value of the set concentration. Specifically, the first calculator 55 calculates a second set value for each pixel of the image.

  The calculation of the second set value will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a first concentration characteristic and a second concentration characteristic. In FIG. 3, the horizontal axis indicates the set concentration, and the vertical axis indicates the formation concentration.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the first concentration characteristic is represented by a first concentration curve G1. The first density curve G1 associates the value of the set density with the value of the formed density when the toner container 41 is the first container TC1. The second concentration characteristic is represented by a second concentration curve G2. The second density curve G2 corresponds the value of the set density to the value of the formed density when the toner container 41 is the second container TC2.

  The first accepting unit 54 accepts a first set value “A” as the set concentration. In the first concentration curve G1, the formation concentration value "A1" corresponds to the first set value "A". On the other hand, in the second concentration curve G2, the value "A2" of the formation concentration corresponds to the first set value "A". The formation density value “A1” is smaller than the formation density value “A2”. Therefore, in the example of FIG. 3, when an image is formed using the first set value "A" and the first container TC1, an image is formed using the first set value "A" and the second container TC2. The image density is reduced as compared to. Therefore, the first calculation unit 55 sets the value "B" of the setting density corresponding to the value of the formation density corresponding to the value "A2" of the formation density of the second container TC2 to the second setting value in the first concentration curve G1. Decide on. That is, in the first concentration curve G1, the first calculation unit 55 second sets the value "B" of the set concentration corresponding to the value of the formation concentration which matches the value "A2" of the formation concentration of the second concentration curve G2. Determine the value. Therefore, the formation concentration value "A2" corresponding to the second setting value "B" in the first concentration characteristic (the first concentration curve G1) is the first setting value "the second concentration characteristic (the second concentration curve G2)". This corresponds to the formation density value "A2" corresponding to A ".

  Then, the changing unit 56 changes the first setting value “A” to the second setting value “B”, and sets the second setting value “B” in the image forming unit A4. As a result, the image forming unit A4 forms an image on the sheet P based on the second setting value "B". Since the second set value "B" corresponds to the formation density value "A2" of the second container TC2, the quality of the image formed using the first container TC1 is formed using the second container TC2 It is possible to suppress deterioration compared to the quality of the image. In the example of FIG. 3, the quality of the image formed using the first container TC1 substantially matches the quality of the image formed using the second container TC2. The information indicating the first concentration curve G1 is stored in the storage unit 6 as a first concentration characteristic. Information indicating the second concentration curve G2 is stored in the storage unit 6 as a second concentration characteristic. When the first determination unit 53 determines that the toner container 41 is the second container TC2, the image forming unit A4 forms an image on the sheet P based on the first setting value “A”.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 4, determination of whether or not to change the first set value to the second set value will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 5 further includes a second calculation unit 57, a second determination unit 58, and a second reception unit 59. Specifically, the processor of the control unit 5 executes a computer program stored in the storage device of the storage unit 6 to function as a second determination unit 58, a second calculation unit 57, and a second reception unit 59.

  When the first determination unit 53 determines that the toner container 41 is the first container TC1, the second calculation unit 57 calculates the maximum value of the distance between the first density curve G1 and the second density curve G2.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the maximum value L of the distance between the first concentration curve G1 and the second concentration curve G2. In FIG. 4, the horizontal axis indicates the set concentration, and the vertical axis indicates the formation concentration.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the second calculator 57 calculates the maximum value L of the distance between the first concentration curve G1 and the second concentration curve G2. In FIG. 4, the difference between the value “A3” of the formation concentration on the first concentration curve G1 and the value “A4” of the formation concentration on the second concentration curve G2 indicates the maximum value L.

  The second determination unit 58 determines whether the maximum value L of the distance between the first concentration curve G1 and the second concentration curve G2 is equal to or greater than a threshold.

  When the second determination unit 58 determines that the maximum value L is equal to or greater than the threshold, the change unit 56 changes the value of the set concentration from the first set value to the second set value. Then, a second set value is set in the image forming unit A4. Therefore, it can be properly determined whether or not the value of the set density is to be changed from the first set value to the second set value.

  A plurality of toner containers 41 may be attached to the image forming unit A4. In this case, the first determination unit 53 determines, for each of the plurality of toner containers 41, whether it is the first container TC1 or the second container TC different from the first container TC1. Then, for the toner container 41 determined as the first container TC by the first determination unit 53, the second calculation unit 57 calculates the maximum value L of the distance between the first density curve G1 and the second density curve G2. Furthermore, the second determination unit 58 determines whether the maximum value L of the first concentration curve G1 and the second concentration curve G2 is equal to or greater than a threshold. Therefore, even when the plurality of toner containers 41 are attached to the image forming unit A4, it can be properly determined whether the value of the set density is to be changed from the first set value to the second set value.

  Next, the second accepting unit 59 will be described. When a plurality of toner containers 41 are attached to the image forming unit A4, the second receiving unit 59 receives an operation as to whether an image is to be formed on the sheet P. Specifically, the second accepting unit 59 determines that the first container TC1 determined by the second determining unit 58 that the maximum value L is less than the threshold and the first determining unit 53 determines that the second container TC2 An operation of forming an image on the sheet P is received using the toner container 41.

  Therefore, the user can set the second container TC to the toner stored in the first container TC in which the maximum value L of the distance between the first density curve G1 and the second density curve G2 is less than the threshold through the input part A8. Whether to form an image using the stored toner can be selected. As a result, the convenience of the user can be improved. For example, it is useful when there is no problem even if the density of the formed image is changed.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 5 further includes an instruction unit 63. Specifically, the processor of the control unit 5 functions as an instruction unit 63.

  When the first determination unit 53 determines that the toner container 41 is the first container TC1, the instruction unit 63 forms an image on the first sheet P based on the first setting value by the image forming unit A4. In this manner, the image forming unit A4 is instructed. The first sheet P corresponds to an example of “first recording medium”. Further, when the first determination unit 53 determines that the toner container 41 is the first container TC1, the instruction unit 63 causes the image forming unit A4 to form an image based on the second setting value on the second sheet P. The image forming unit A4 is instructed to form. The second sheet P is different from the first sheet P. The second sheet P corresponds to an example of “second recording medium”. As a result, it is possible to compare the image recorded on the first sheet P before the change of the set density with the image recorded on the second sheet P after the change of the set density. Therefore, the user can confirm the effect of changing the set concentration.

  Next, processing performed by the control unit 5 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 5 and 6. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of processing of the control unit 5. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the determination process of step S109 of FIG.

  First, in step S101, the reader RD reads the identification information of the toner container 41 from the IC tag G. The first determination unit 53 acquires identification information of the toner container 41 from the reader RD.

  Next, in step S103, the first determination unit 53 determines the toner container 41. The first determination unit 53 determines whether the toner container 41 is the first container TC1 or the second container TC2 different from the first container TC1. Specifically, the first determination unit 53 determines whether the identification information of the toner container 41 read by the reader RD matches the identification information stored in the storage unit 6. The first determination unit 53 determines whether the toner container 41 is the first container TC1 or the second container TC2 based on the identification information of the toner container 41 read by the reader RD and the identification information stored in the storage unit 6. Do. If the first determination unit 53 determines that the toner container 41 is the second container TC2, the process ends. If the first determination unit 53 determines that the toner container 41 is the first container TC1, the process proceeds to step S105.

  Next, in step S105, the acquisition unit 52 acquires, from the storage unit 6, information indicating the first density characteristic corresponding to the first container TC1 based on the identification information acquired by the reader RD.

  Next, in step S107, when the first accepting unit 54 accepts an instruction to form an image on the sheet P, the first accepting unit 54 accepts the first set value.

  Next, in step S109, the control unit 5 executes a determination process. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, the determination process includes steps S201 and S203.

  In step S201, the second calculator 57 calculates the maximum value L of the distance between the first concentration curve G1 and the second concentration curve G2.

  Next, in step S203, the second determination unit 58 determines whether the maximum value L of the distance between the first concentration curve G1 and the second concentration curve G2 is equal to or greater than a threshold. If the maximum value L is less than the threshold, the process ends. If the maximum value L is equal to or greater than the threshold, the process proceeds to step S111 in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 5, in step S111, the first calculation unit 55 calculates a second set value based on the first density characteristic, the second density characteristic, and the first set value. Specifically, the first calculator 55 calculates a second set value based on the first concentration curve G1, the second concentration curve G2, and the first set value.

  Next, in step S113, the change unit 56 changes the value of the set density from the first set value to the second set value.

  Next, in step S115, the instructing unit 63 instructs the image forming unit A4 to form an image on the first sheet P based on the first setting value.

  Next, in step S117, the instructing unit 63 instructs the image forming unit A4 to form an image on the second sheet P based on the second setting value.

  Step S117 ends, and the control unit 5 ends the process. By executing steps S115 and S117, it is possible to compare the image formed in the state before the change with the image formed in the state after the change. Note that step S115 may not be performed, and only step S117 may be performed.

  A plurality of toner containers 41 are attached to the image forming apparatus 100. Therefore, steps S101 to S117 may be performed for each toner container 41.

  Step S103 corresponds to an example of "determination step", step S107 corresponds to an example of "acceptance step", step S111 corresponds to an example of "calculation step", and step S113 corresponds to an example of "modification step". Do.

(First modification)
An image forming apparatus 100 according to a first modification of the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 5 and 7. The first modified example is described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6 in that the first modified example calculates the second set value based on the density characteristic, the reference density characteristic, and the first set value. And mainly different. The differences between the first modification and the present embodiment will be mainly described below.

  First, density characteristics and reference density characteristics according to the first modification will be described with reference to FIG. The storage unit 6 illustrated in FIG. 2 stores information indicating the first density characteristic and information indicating the reference density characteristic. The first density characteristic is the same as the first density characteristic described with reference to FIG. 3, and shows the relationship between the set density and the formed density when the toner container 41 is the first container TC1. The first density characteristic corresponds to an example of “density characteristic”. The reference density characteristic indicates the relationship between the set density and the formed density when the value of the set density matches the value of the formed density. The set density indicates the density set for the image forming unit A4. The formed density indicates the density of the image formed on the recording medium by the image forming unit A4.

  When the first determination unit 53 determines that the toner container 41 is the first container TC1, the first calculation unit 55 performs the second setting based on the first density characteristic, the reference density characteristic, and the first setting value. Calculate the value.

  The calculation of the second set value will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the first concentration characteristic and the reference concentration characteristic of the first container TC1. In FIG. 7, the horizontal axis indicates the set concentration, and the vertical axis indicates the formation concentration.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the first concentration characteristic is represented by a first concentration curve G1 as in the present embodiment described with reference to FIG. 3. The reference density characteristic is represented by a reference density straight line G3. The reference density straight line G3 associates the value of the set density with the value of the formed density so that the value of the set density matches the value of the formed density.

  The first accepting unit 54 accepts a first set value “A” as the set concentration. In the first concentration curve G1, the formation concentration value "A1" corresponds to the first set value "A". On the other hand, in the reference density straight line G3, the value "A" of the formation density corresponds to the first set value "A". The first calculation unit 55 determines, as the second set value, the value "C" of the set density corresponding to the value of the formed density which matches the value "A" of the formed density of the reference density straight line G3 in the first density curve G1. Do. Therefore, the value "A" of the formation density corresponding to the second set value "C" in the first density characteristic (first density curve G1) is the first set value "A" in the reference density characteristic (reference density straight line G3). Match the formation density value "A" corresponding to

  Then, the changing unit 56 changes the first setting value “A” to the second setting value “C”, and sets the second setting value “C” in the image forming unit A4. As a result, the image forming unit A4 forms an image on the sheet P based on the second setting value "C". Since the second set value "C" corresponds to the value "A" of the formation density determined from the reference density straight line G3 which is the ideal density curve, the quality of the image formed using the first container TC1 is the second container It is possible to suppress deterioration as compared to the quality of the image formed using TC2. The information indicating the first concentration curve G1 is stored in the storage unit 6 as a first concentration characteristic. Information indicating the reference density straight line G3 is stored in the storage unit 6 as a reference density characteristic.

  Note that, when the first determination unit 53 determines that the toner container 41 is the first container TC1, the second calculation unit 57 calculates the maximum value of the distance between the reference density straight line G3 and the first density curve G1. Is also possible. The second determination unit 58 determines whether the maximum value of the distance between the reference density straight line G3 and the first density curve G1 is equal to or greater than a threshold. If the second determination unit 58 determines that the maximum value is equal to or greater than the threshold, the change unit 56 changes the value of the set concentration from the first set value to the second set value. Therefore, it can be properly determined whether or not the value of the set density is to be changed from the first set value to the second set value.

(2nd modification)
An image forming apparatus 100 according to a second modification of the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 8 and 9. The second modified example mainly differs from the present embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6 in that the second modified example executes the determination process based on the histogram. The differences between the second modification and the present embodiment will mainly be described below.

  First, the control unit 5 according to the second modified example will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 5 further includes a third calculation unit 60, a third determination unit 61, and a fourth determination unit 62. Specifically, the processor of the control unit 5 executes a computer program stored in the storage device of the storage unit 6 to function as a third calculation unit 60, a third determination unit 61, and a fourth determination unit 62.

  The third calculation unit 60 calculates a histogram based on the image to be printed. The histogram shows the relationship between the light and dark value and the number of pixels having the light and dark degree indicated by the light and dark value for each of a plurality of numerical values indicating the degree of light and dark (hereinafter referred to as "light and dark value"). Each pixel constitutes an image to be printed.

  FIG. 8A shows an example of a histogram according to the second modification. FIG. 8B shows another example of the histogram according to the second modification. In FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B, the vertical axis of the histogram indicates the number of pixels of the image, and the horizontal axis of the histogram indicates the light / dark value of the image. Also, the minimum value of the light and dark values of the histogram corresponds to the darkest black, and the maximum value of the light and dark values corresponds to the brightest white. The light and dark values show gradually brighter as they go from the minimum value to the maximum value of light and dark values. A histogram may be created for each of red, green and blue colors. Also, a histogram may be created for all red, green and blue colors combined.

  Next, the third determination unit 61 will be described. The third determination unit 61 determines the type of object included in the image information indicating the image based on the histogram. For example, the third determination unit 61 determines whether the type of the object is a symbol object, a table object, a line object, or a photo object. "Symbol" includes letters and numbers as well as symbols. For example, FIG. 8A shows an example of a histogram of an image containing only characters. As shown in FIG. 8A, the histogram of the image including only characters has light and dark values indicating the darkest and light and dark values indicating the brightest. The number of pixels having light and dark values indicating the brightest is greater than the number of pixels having light and dark values indicating the darkest. A pixel having a light and dark value indicating the darkest indicates a pixel representing a character. A pixel having a bright / dark value indicating the brightest indicates a pixel representing white. When the image has a histogram shown in FIG. 8A, the third determination unit 61 determines that the type of object included in the image information indicating the image is a symbol object.

  For example, FIG. 8B is a diagram showing an example of a histogram of an image including a photograph. As shown in FIG. 8 (b), the histogram of the image containing the picture contains a large number of pixels with a wide range of light and dark values. When the image has the histogram shown in FIG. 8B, the third determination unit 61 determines that the type of the object included in the image information indicating the image is a photo object.

  The fourth determination unit 62 determines whether to change the value of the set density from the first set value to the second set value based on the type of the object determined by the third determination unit 61. Therefore, the processing load can be reduced by changing the density setting value only for the object requiring high quality. When it is determined that the image information indicating the image includes a photo object, the value of the set density is changed from the first set value to the second set value. When including photographic objects, there is a high demand for the quality of the formed image. Therefore, the quality of the image formed using the first container TC1 can be effectively suppressed from being reduced compared to the quality of the image formed using the second container TC2. Further, since it is determined based on the histogram whether the image information includes a photo object, it can be easily determined whether the image information includes a photo object.

  Next, step S109 in FIG. 5 will be described with reference to FIG. 5, FIG. 8 and FIG. Step S109 includes steps S211 and S213.

  In step S211, the third calculator 60 creates a histogram of the image.

  Next, in step S213, the third determination unit 61 determines the type of object included in the image information. The third determination unit 61 determines the type of the object included in the image information based on the histogram generated by the third calculation unit 60. In the example of FIG. 9, the third determination unit 61 determines whether the type of the object is a photo object. For example, when the third calculating unit 60 creates the histogram shown in FIG. 8B, the third determining unit 61 determines that the type of the object is a photo object.

  When the third determination unit 61 determines that it includes other than the photo object, the process ends. If the third determination unit 61 determines that the photo object is included, the process proceeds to step S111 in FIG. When including photographic objects, there is a high demand for the quality of the formed image. Therefore, the quality of the image formed using the first container TC1 can be effectively suppressed from being reduced compared to the quality of the image formed using the second container TC2. Further, since it is determined based on the histogram whether the image information includes a photo object, it can be easily determined whether the image information includes a photo object. The control unit 5 may execute the determination process shown in FIG. 6 and the determination process shown in FIG.

(Third modification)
An image forming apparatus 100 according to a third modification of the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The third modification is mainly different from the present embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 in that the server SV has the functions of the control unit 5 and the storage unit 6 in the third modification. The differences between the third modification and the present embodiment will mainly be described below.

  Specifically, the server SV functions as the acquisition unit 52, the first determination unit 53, the first reception unit 54, and the first calculation unit 55 described with reference to FIG. In addition, the server SV stores the identification information of the first container TC1 and the identification information of the second container TC2 stored in the storage unit 6 described with reference to FIG. Specifically, the server SV stores identification information of each of a plurality of first containers TC1 corresponding to a plurality of colors, and identification information of each of a plurality of second containers TC2 corresponding to a plurality of colors. Do. The server SV also stores information indicating the first concentration characteristic and information indicating the second concentration characteristic. More specifically, the server SV has a first density characteristic of each of the plurality of first containers TC1 corresponding to the plurality of colors, and a second concentration of each of the plurality of second containers TC2 corresponding to the plurality of colors. Remember the characteristics.

  Further, the server SV determines whether the toner container 41 is the first container TC1 or the second container TC2 different from the first container TC1.

  Also, the server SV may receive the first setting value. In addition, when the server SV determines that the toner container 41 is the first container TC1, the server SV may calculate the second set value based on the first set value, the first density characteristic, and the second density characteristic. Good. The calculated second setting value is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 100 via the communication unit of the server. The image forming apparatus 100 uses the second setting value calculated by the control unit of the server SV to change the setting density value from the first setting value to the second setting value.

  The server SV may store information indicating the density characteristic according to the first modification and information indicating the reference density characteristic. The server SV operates in the same manner as the control unit 5 according to the first modification. The server SV may operate in the same manner as the control unit 5 according to the second modification, or may operate in the same manner as the control unit 5 according to the third modification.

  As described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 9, in the embodiment of the present invention, the toner container 41 receives the first setting value indicating one value of the setting density, and the toner container 41 receives the first container TC1 (for example, non- If it is determined that the product is a genuine product, a second set value is calculated based on the density characteristic and the first set value. The density characteristic indicates the relationship between the set density and the formed density when the toner container 41 is the first container TC1. The second set value indicates the value of the set concentration such that the value of the formation concentration matches one value. The set density indicates the density set for the image forming unit A4, and the formed density indicates the density of the image formed on the recording medium by the image forming unit A4. The set density value is changed from the first set value to the second set value, and the second set value is set in the image forming unit A4. Therefore, it is possible to suppress deterioration in the quality of the image formed using the first replacement part as compared to the quality of the image formed using the second replacement part.

  The embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the drawings (FIGS. 1 to 9). However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be implemented in various modes without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining the plurality of components disclosed in the above-described embodiments. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, components in different embodiments may be combined as appropriate. In order to facilitate understanding, the drawings schematically show each component as a main component, and the thickness, length, number, spacing, etc. of each component illustrated are actually considered from the convenience of drawing creation. Is different. Further, the speeds, materials, shapes, dimensions, and the like of the respective constituent elements shown in the above-described embodiment are merely examples, and are not particularly limited, and various modifications may be made within the scope of the present invention. It is possible.

  The present invention is applicable to the field of image forming apparatuses.

5 control unit 6 storage unit 41 toner container 52 acquisition unit 53 first determination unit 54 first reception unit 55 first calculation unit 56 change unit 57 second calculation unit 58 second determination unit 59 second reception unit 60 third calculation unit 61 third determination unit 62 fourth determination unit 63 instruction unit 100 image forming apparatus A4 image forming unit A9 communication unit

Claims (10)

An image forming unit for forming an image on a recording medium by mounting a replacement part and consuming consumables accommodated in the replacement part;
A first determination unit that determines whether the replacement part is a first replacement part or a second replacement part different from the first replacement part;
A storage unit for storing information indicating the first density characteristic and information indicating the second density characteristic;
The first concentration characteristic indicates the relationship between the set concentration and the formation concentration when the replacement part is the first replacement part,
The second concentration characteristic indicates the relationship between the set concentration and the formation concentration when the replacement part is the second replacement part,
The set density indicates the density set for the image forming unit,
The formed density indicates the density of an image formed on the recording medium by the image forming unit,
A first reception unit that receives a first set value indicating the value of the set concentration;
When the first determination unit determines that the replacement part is the first replacement part, a second set value is set based on the first density characteristic, the second density characteristic, and the first set value. A first calculation unit to calculate
And a change unit configured to change the first set value to the second set value and set the second set value in the image forming unit.
The image forming apparatus, wherein the value of the formation density corresponding to the second set value in the first density characteristic matches the value of the formation density corresponding to the first set value in the second density characteristic. The storage unit includes, as the first density characteristic, information indicating a first density curve that associates the value of the set density with the value of the formation density, and the value of the set density and the formation as the second density characteristic. Storing information indicating a second concentration curve that is associated with the concentration value;
A second calculation unit that calculates a maximum value of the distance between the first concentration curve and the second concentration curve when the first determination unit determines that the replacement component is the first replacement component;
A second determination unit that determines whether or not the maximum value is equal to or greater than a threshold;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the change unit changes the first set value to the second set value when the second determination unit determines that the maximum value is equal to or more than the threshold. . The image forming section is mounted with the predetermined number of replacement parts accommodating two or more predetermined numbers of consumables different in color from each other.
The first determination unit determines whether each of the predetermined number of replacement parts is the first replacement part or the second replacement part,
When the first determination unit determines that at least one of the predetermined number of replacement parts is the first replacement part, the second calculation unit determines the at least one replacement part Calculating the maximum value of the distance between the first concentration curve and the second concentration curve,
The second determination unit determines whether the maximum value is equal to or greater than a threshold value,
The recording using the first replacement part determined by the second determination unit to have the maximum value less than the threshold value and the replacement part determined by the first determination unit to be the second replacement part The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: a second receiving unit that receives an operation of forming an image on a medium. A third calculation unit that calculates a histogram based on the image;
And a third determination unit that determines the type of the object included in the image information indicating the image based on the histogram.
The histogram indicates a relationship between the numerical value and the number of pixels having the degree of light and dark indicated by the numerical value, for each of a plurality of numerical values indicating the degree of light and dark.
Each pixel constitutes the image,
When the first determination unit determines that the replacement part is the first replacement part, the first set value is set to the second set value based on the type of the object determined by the third determination unit. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising: a fourth determination unit that determines whether or not to change to.   The image formation according to claim 4, wherein the fourth determination unit changes the first set value to the second set value when the third determination unit determines that the type of the object is a photo object. apparatus. It further comprises an instruction unit for instructing the image forming unit;
The instruction unit forms the image on the first recording medium based on the first setting value when the first determination unit determines that the replacement part is the first replacement part. And the image forming unit instructs the image forming unit to form the image on the second recording medium based on the second set value.
The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the second recording medium is different from the first recording medium. The first determination unit acquires identification information from the replacement part, and determines whether the replacement part is the first replacement part or the second replacement part based on the identification information.
The storage unit stores a plurality of the first density characteristics,
When the first determination unit determines that the replacement part is the first replacement part, the first density characteristic corresponding to the first replacement part is acquired from the storage unit based on the identification information. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising an acquisition unit. An image forming unit for forming an image on a recording medium by mounting a replacement part and consuming consumables accommodated in the replacement part;
A first determination unit that determines whether the replacement part is a first replacement part or a second replacement part different from the first replacement part;
A storage unit for storing information indicating density characteristics and information indicating reference density characteristics;
The concentration characteristic indicates the relationship between the set concentration and the formation concentration when the replacement part is the first replacement part,
The reference density characteristic indicates the relationship between the set density and the formed density when the value of the set density matches the value of the formed density,
The set density indicates the density set for the image forming unit,
The formed density indicates the density of an image formed on the recording medium by the image forming unit,
A first reception unit that receives a first set value indicating the value of the set concentration;
A second setting value is calculated based on the density characteristic, the reference density characteristic, and the first set value, when the first determination unit determines that the replacement part is the first replacement part. 1 calculation unit,
And a change unit configured to change the first set value to the second set value and set the second set value in the image forming unit.
The image forming apparatus, wherein a value of the formation density corresponding to the second set value in the density characteristic matches a value of the formation density corresponding to the first set value in the reference density characteristic. An image forming unit for forming an image on a recording medium by mounting a replacement part and consuming consumables contained in the replacement part; information indicating a first density characteristic and information indicating a second density characteristic An image forming method performed by an image forming apparatus including a storage unit for storing, the image forming method comprising:
A determination step of determining whether the replacement part is a first replacement part or a second replacement part different from the first replacement part;
An accepting step of accepting a first set value indicating a value of the set concentration;
When the first determination unit determines that the replacement part is the first replacement part in the determination step, a second determination is made based on the first density characteristic, the second density characteristic, and the first set value. A calculation step of calculating the set value;
Changing the first set value to the second set value to set the second set value in the image forming unit;
The first concentration characteristic indicates the relationship between the set concentration and the formation concentration when the replacement part is the first replacement part,
The second concentration characteristic indicates the relationship between the set concentration and the formation concentration when the replacement part is the second replacement part,
The set density indicates the density set for the image forming unit,
The formed density indicates the density of an image formed on the recording medium by the image forming unit,
The image forming method, wherein a value of the formation density corresponding to the second set value in the first density characteristic matches a value of the formation density corresponding to the first set value in the second density characteristic. An image forming unit for forming an image on a recording medium by mounting a replacement part and consuming consumables stored in the replacement part, and a memory for storing information indicating density characteristics and information indicating reference density characteristics An image forming apparatus including:
A determination step of determining whether the replacement part is a first replacement part or a second replacement part different from the first replacement part;
An accepting step of accepting a first set value indicating a value of the set concentration;
When the first determination unit determines that the replacement part is the first replacement part in the determination step, the second set value is set based on the density characteristic, the reference density characteristic, and the first set value. Calculating step to calculate
Changing the first set value to the second set value to set the second set value in the image forming unit;
The concentration characteristic indicates the relationship between the set concentration and the formation concentration when the replacement part is the first replacement part,
The reference density characteristic indicates the relationship between the set density and the formed density when the value of the set density matches the value of the formed density,
The set density indicates the density set for the image forming unit,
The formed density indicates the density of an image formed on the recording medium by the image forming unit,
The image forming method, wherein the value of the formation density corresponding to the second set value in the density characteristic matches the value of the formation density corresponding to the first set value in the reference density characteristic.

Images