JP2022099649A - Image formation system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an optimum system operation with a combination of the number of documents and a sheet discharge mode of a defective sheet to a job with N documents in a system for performing an inspection by an inspection device.SOLUTION: A printing system comprises: printing means which forms an image on a sheet; inspection means which determines a defect in the image formed on the sheet; inspection result notification means which notifies of an inspection result of the sheet by the inspection means; a defective sheet discharge tray which discharges the sheet that is determined to be defective based on the inspection result of the inspection means; a normal sheet discharge tray which discharges the sheet determined to be normal based on the inspection result of the inspection means; a plurality of discharge modes for discharging the defective sheet to the sheet discharge tray different from the normal sheet when the sheet is determined to be the defective sheet as a result of applying the inspection means to any sheet; and mode switching means which switches the discharge modes on the basis of the number of documents of a job that has been input.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

The present invention relates to an image forming system including a printing device and an inspection device.

In recent years, a printing system has been known in which a sheet printed by a printing device can be inspected by an inspection device while being conveyed. In the inspection of the print sheet, the inspection device reads the image of the conveyed print sheet and determines whether or not the print sheet is normal by image analysis of the read image. The inspection device can detect, for example, missing barcodes and ruled lines, missing images, printing defects, missing pages, color shifts, and the like. When the printed sheet is determined to be a defective sheet in this way, the defective sheet is ejected to a paper ejection destination different from that of the normal sheet. This prevents the defective sheet from being mixed into the normal sheet, and enables the operator to dispose of the defective sheet.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2018-126868

According to the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, the defective sheet is discharged to a paper ejection destination different from that of the normal sheet, but a plurality of paper ejection methods can be considered as the method of ejecting the defective sheet.

For example, when the corresponding sheet is determined to be a defective sheet, there is a paper ejection method in which only the defective sheet is ejected to another ejection destination and the printing operation of the subsequent paper is continued (in the following description, the main ejection). The paper method is called the first paper ejection mode). As another paper ejection method, when the corresponding sheet is determined to be a defective sheet, the defective sheet and the sheet that has been fed after the defective sheet are ejected to another output destination, and all the sheets are ejected. When the paper is completed, a method of restarting the printing operation from the defective sheet can be considered (in the following description, this paper ejection method is referred to as a second paper ejection mode).

If there is a configuration in which the user can select the above two paper ejection methods, the following problems exist.

For example, when the user selects the first paper ejection mode for a job of printing a plurality of originals having different images (hereinafter referred to as an N originals job), when a defective sheet occurs, only the defective sheet is different. Since the paper is ejected to the output destination and the job is continued from the next paper of the defective sheet, there is a bundle of missing pages in the bundle of normal sheets, and there is a problem that the deliverable desired by the user cannot be provided. be.

In addition, when the user selects the second paper ejection mode in a job of printing multiple copies of one sheet of original paper (hereinafter referred to as a one-sheet original job) and a defective sheet occurs, the image is normally the same. Therefore, the phenomenon of "page missing teeth" in the bundle does not occur. Therefore, only the defective sheet needs to be ejected to a different output destination, but in the second output mode, the paper that has been fed after the defective sheet is also ejected to a different output destination from the normal sheet, resulting in a result. However, there is a problem that the generation of waste paper cannot be optimized.

As described above, depending on the combination of the number of original sheets and the paper ejection mode of the defective sheet, the system operation may not be optimal for the user.

An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming system capable of performing a system operation desired by a user regardless of the combination of the number of original sheets and the paper ejection mode of a defective sheet.

In order to solve the above problems, the image forming system according to claim 1 of the present invention includes a printing means for forming an image on a sheet, an inspection means for determining an image defect of the image-formed sheet, and the above-mentioned inspection. The inspection result notification means for notifying the inspection result of the sheet by the means, the defective sheet ejection tray for discharging the sheet judged to be defective as a result of the inspection by the inspection means, and the inspection result of the inspection means are normal. If it is determined that the sheet is defective as a result of applying the inspection means to the normal sheet ejection tray that ejects the determined sheet and the defective sheet, the defective sheet is ejected to a different ejection tray from the normal sheet. The image forming system is provided with a plurality of ejection modes and mode switching means for switching the ejection mode based on the number of submitted documents.

Further, according to the second aspect of the present invention, in the ejection mode, the first ejection mode in which only the defective sheet is ejected to a paper ejection tray different from the normal sheet, the defective sheet, and the subsequent paper feeding from the defective sheet have been completed. The image forming system according to claim 1, which is a second paper ejection mode in which the paper is ejected to a paper ejection tray different from the normal sheet.

Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, the mode switching means switches to the first paper ejection mode when a job having one original number is input, and the job having two or more originals is input. If this is the case, the image forming system according to claim 1, wherein the mode is switched to the second paper ejection mode.

According to the present invention, by changing the paper ejection mode for ejecting defective sheets according to the job content, specifically, the number of original sheets, to the optimum mode, when a defective sheet is detected in an N original sheet job, the user can use it. It is possible to prevent the page from providing a bundle of toothlessness.

It is a block diagram which shows the hardware schematic structure of a printing system. It is a schematic diagram which showed the sectional view of the printer engine. It is a schematic diagram which showed the state of inspecting a sheet image in a printing system. It is a figure which shows the 1st paper ejection mode and the 2nd paper ejection mode. It is a flowchart which shows the mode switching means which concerns on this embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

<Explanation of block diagram>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic hardware configuration as an embodiment of a printing system according to the present invention. Unless otherwise specified, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied even to a system in which a connection is made and processing is performed via a network such as a LAN or WAN as long as the function of the present invention is executed.

As shown in the figure, the printing system according to this embodiment includes a printing device 100, a host computer 101, and an inspection device 150. Further, the printing device 100, the host computer 101, the inspection device 150, and the like are each connected to each other by a communication line 105. In the present invention, there is no problem even if a plurality of host computers, printing devices, inspection devices, etc. are connected.

The host computer 101 can acquire input information from a user by an input device (not shown), create a print job to be transmitted to the printing device 100, transmit the print job to the printing device 100, and input the information. The controller board 110 performs various data processing and controls the operation of the printing apparatus 100. Here, the controller board 110 is built in the printing device 100, but in the present invention, there is no problem even if the controller board 110 is independently connected to the printing device 100.

The operation panel 120 is an operation panel that receives various operations and instructions from the user by a touch panel method, and corresponds to the instruction means in the present invention. The printer engine 130 physically prints the image data generated by the controller board 110 on printing paper (sheet). The printer engine 130 will be described in detail with reference to the mechanical cross-sectional view of FIG. The camera unit 131 is provided in the printer engine 130 and enables the printed sheet to be read by the camera.

Further, the printing device 100 is connected to the inspection device 150. The inspection device 150 is a device that inspects the sheet image read by the camera unit 131. The inspection device 150 is connected to the communication line 105, and can receive inspection item settings, comparison source images, and the like from a host computer 101 and the like.

Next, the configuration of the controller board 110 will be described. The network communication controller 111 controls communication with the communication network 105 (external network). The non-volatile memory 112 is a non-volatile storage device, and stores a control program at startup and the like. The RAM 113 is a RAM for reading and recording various control programs. The CPU 114 is a CPU that executes a control program read out from the RAM 113 and collectively controls image signals and various devices.

The HDD 115 is an HDD used for the purpose of temporarily or long-term holding a large amount of data such as image data and various setting data. The communication port 116 (acquisition means) is a communication port for receiving (acquiring) an electric signal indicating an inspection result from the inspection device 150. Each module is connected to each other via the system bus 117.

Further, the system bus 117 connects the controller board 110 and each device in the printing device 100 to each other. The RAM 113 also functions as a main memory and a work memory of the CPU 114. The control program and operating system are also stored in the HDD 115 in addition to the non-volatile memory 112. Further, it may have an NVRAM (not shown) and store the printing device mode setting information from the operation panel 120.

<Explanation of printer engine configuration>
FIG. 2 is a mechanical cross-sectional view of the printer engine 130. The printer engine 130 includes an image forming unit 200, an image fixing unit 210, an inserter 220, a stacker 240, and a finisher 250 for forming an image to be printed on a sheet, and these are connected in order from the upstream in the paper transport direction. The image forming unit 200 and the image fixing unit 210 form an image forming unit.

201 and 202 are paper feed decks. Various sheets can be stored in each paper feed deck. In each paper feed deck, it is possible to separate only one uppermost sheet of the accommodated sheets and transfer it to the sheet transfer path 203. Reference numerals 204 to 207 are development stations, and in order to form a color image, a toner image is formed using colored toners of Y, M, C, and K, respectively.

The toner image formed here is primarily transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 208, and the intermediate transfer belt 208 rotates clockwise in the figure to the toner transferred from the sheet transfer path 203 at the secondary transfer position of 209. The image is transferred. The sheet on which the toner image is transferred is conveyed to the image fixing unit 210. Reference numeral 211 is a fixing unit for fixing the toner image to the sheet. The fixing unit 211 includes a pressure roller and a heating roller, and the sheet passes between the rollers to melt and crimp the toner to fix the toner image on the sheet. The sheet that has passed through the fixing unit 211 is transported to 215 through the sheet transport path 212.

If further melting / crimping is required for fixing depending on the type of sheet, after passing through the fixing unit 211, it is conveyed to the second fixing unit 213 using the above sheet transport path, and additional melting / crimping is performed. After being applied, it is transported to 215 through the sheet transport path 214. When the image formation mode is double-sided, the sheet is conveyed to the sheet inversion path of 216, inverted at 216, and then the sheet is conveyed to the double-sided transfer path 217, and the image transfer of the second surface is performed at the secondary transfer position 209. Will be done.

The inserter 220 is an insertion portion for inserting a sheet for insertion. The inserter 220 includes an inserter tray 221 as an insertion tray, and joins the sheets fed through the sheet transfer path 222 to the transfer path. This makes it possible to insert the sheet at an arbitrary position into a series of sheets transported from the image fixing unit 210 and transport the sheet to the succeeding device.

The sheet that has passed through the inserter 220 is conveyed to the camera unit 131. Cameras 231 and 232 are arranged in the camera unit 131 so as to face each other. The camera 231 is a camera for reading the upper surface of the seat, and the camera 232 is a camera for reading the lower surface of the seat. The camera unit 131 reads the image of the sheet using the cameras 231 and 232 at the timing when the sheet conveyed to the sheet transfer path 233 reaches a predetermined position, and sends the read sheet image to the inspection device 150.

240 is a large-capacity stacker capable of loading a large-capacity sheet. The large-capacity stacker 240 has a stack tray 241 composed of a lift table 242 and an eject table 243 as a tray for loading sheets. The sheet that has passed through the camera unit 131 is input to the large-capacity stacker 240 through the sheet transfer path 244. The sheet is loaded on the lift table 242 of the stack tray 241 from the sheet transfer path 244 via the sheet transfer path 245.

The lift table 242 is in the upper position shown in the figure when the seat bundle is not loaded. As the loading of the seat bundle progresses, the lift table 242 is lowered by the height of the seat bundle, and the upper end of the seat bundle to be loaded is always controlled to have a constant height. When the loading of the sheet bundle is completed or fully loaded, the lift table 242 descends to the position of the eject table 243. The lift table 242 and the eject table 243 are configured such that the bars supporting the seat bundle are present at staggered positions. Therefore, when the lift table 242 descends and reaches a position lower than the eject table 243, the sheet bundle is transshipped to the eject table 243.

Further, the stacker 240 has an escape tray 246 as a paper output tray. The escape tray 246 serves as a discharge destination for the sheet determined to be a defective sheet by the inspection device 150. When outputting to the escape tray 246, the sheet is conveyed from the sheet transfer path 244 to the escape tray 246 via the sheet transfer path 247. When the sheet is conveyed to the post-processing device in the subsequent stage of the large-capacity stacker 240, the sheet is conveyed via the sheet transfer path 248. Reference numeral 249 is an inversion portion for inversion of the sheet. The reversing portion 249 is used when the sheet is loaded on the stack tray 241.

This is because when the seat is loaded on the stack tray 241, the seat is flipped onto the lift table 242 and loaded mechanically, so that the vertical orientation of the seat is reversed. When loading on the stack tray 241 so that the orientation of the input sheet and the orientation of the sheet at the time of output are the same, the sheet is inverted once by the inversion unit 249. When transporting to the escape tray 246 or the subsequent post-processing device, the sheet is ejected as it is without flipping at the time of loading, so that the reversing operation at the reversing section 249 is not performed.

Reference numeral 250 is a finisher that applies a finishing process to the conveyed sheet according to the function specified by the user. Specifically, the finisher 250 has a finishing function such as staples (binding at one place / two places), punches (two holes / three holes), and middle binding binding. The finisher 250 includes two output trays 251 and 252, and is output to the output tray 251 via the sheet transport path 253.

However, the sheet transport path 253 cannot perform finishing processing such as staples. When performing finishing processing such as staples, the finishing function specified by the user is executed by the processing unit 255 via the sheet transport path 254, and the paper is output to the output tray 252. The output trays 251 and 252 can be raised and lowered, respectively, and it is also possible to lower the output tray 251 and operate so that the sheet finished by the processing unit 255 is loaded on the output tray 251. When middle binding is specified, the middle binding processing unit 256 performs a staple treatment in the center of the sheet, folds the sheet in half, and outputs the sheet to the middle binding tray 258 via the sheet transfer path 257. The center binding tray 258 has a belt conveyor configuration, and the center binding bundle loaded on the center binding tray 258 is transported to the left side.

<Explanation of inspection method>
The inspection device 150 inspects the sent sheet image according to the preset inspection items. There are various inspection items, but here, as an example, an example of performing a barcode readable inspection and a front-back collation inspection will be described.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing how the inspection device 150 inspects the transmitted sheet image. 401 represents a sheet image read from the upper surface of the sheet, that is, an image read by the camera 231; 402 represents a sheet image read from the lower surface of the sheet, that is, an image read by the camera 232. In FIG. 3, 410, 421, and 422 are inspection areas to be inspected, respectively.

The inspection device 150 first determines whether or not the barcode existing in the inspection area 410 is readable. If it is readable, the barcode is printed normally, and if it is unreadable, it is determined that the barcode printing is defective. Next, the inspection device 150 extracts the numerical values included in the inspection areas 421 and 422 as character data by OCR (Optical Character Recognition). Here, if printing is performed normally, it is assumed that the original data of the print job is configured so that the same numerical values are printed on the front and back surfaces (upper surface and lower surface) of the sheet.

As a result, it is determined whether or not printing is performed as intended on the front and back sides of the sheet. If the numerical values extracted from the inspection areas 421 and 422 are the same, the printing is normal, and if they are different, it is determined that the printing is defective. The inspection device 150 performs these inspections, and if any of the inspections determines that the printing is defective, the inspection device 150 determines that the sheet is a defective sheet, and if no defects are detected in any of the inspections, the inspection device 150 determines the printing defect. The sheet is determined to be a normal sheet.

The inspection device 150 can also perform various inspections such as sheet print position inspection, sheet duplication inspection, sheet omission inspection, color shift inspection, color tint inspection, and full image comparison inspection of read image and original data. Since the present invention is not limited to these inspection contents, the description thereof will be omitted. In this embodiment, the above-mentioned inspection area and inspection content are set for the inspection device 150 from the host computer 101 or the like through the communication line 105. When the full image comparison inspection is performed, the inspection device 150 receives the comparison source image from the host computer 101 or the like. As another configuration, the inspection device 150 may have an operation unit, and an inspection area and inspection contents can be set from the operation unit.

<Explanation of paper ejection mode for defective sheets>
Next, a paper ejection mode in which the defective sheet is ejected to a paper ejection destination different from that of the normal sheet will be described with reference to FIG.

(1st paper ejection mode)
The outline of the operation of the first paper ejection mode will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b). As shown in FIG. 4A, an image inspection is performed on each paper by an inspection device, and the arrow indicates the paper ejection direction of whether to eject to the lift table 242 of the paper stacker 240 or to the escape tray 246. There is. In the first paper ejection mode, only the defective sheet is ejected to another paper ejection destination, and the job continues. Therefore, for example, when only the sheet 4 is determined to be a defective sheet, the normal sheets 1, 2, 3 and 5 are finally discharged to the lift table 242 and the defective sheet 4 is discharged to the escape tray 246 as shown in FIG. 4 (b). The job ends in a paper state. Therefore, the job ends in a state where the deliverable of the sheet 4 does not exist in the normal deliverable.

(Second paper ejection mode)
The outline of the operation of the second paper ejection mode will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 (c) and 4 (d). When an image inspection is performed on each sheet of paper as shown in FIG. 4C and the second paper ejection mode is determined to be a defective sheet, the defective sheet and the sheet that has been fed after the defective sheet are selected. This is a method of ejecting to another paper ejection destination and restarting printing from the defective sheet when all the sheets have been ejected. Therefore, for example, even if the seats 4 and 5 are determined to be defective, the job is finally completed with all the seats 1 to 5 aligned on the lift table 242, which is the discharge destination of the normal seats. Will be done.

<Mode switching means for switching the paper ejection mode according to the number of original sheets>
Next, the mode switching means will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In this description, a job of discharging deliverables to the lift table 242 of the stacker 240 will be described.

First, when the printing apparatus 100 accepts a job, it is determined whether or not the job is an inspection job (S100). If it is determined that the submitted job is not an inspection job, the process proceeds to S112, and the printing process for the sheet and the paper ejection process (S113) for the output tray are performed for all the sheets (S114). ), End the job.

If it is determined that the submitted job is an inspection job, the process transitions to S101, and the flow transitions to set the paper ejection mode of the defective sheet according to the number of originals of the submitted job.

If it is determined in S101 that the number of original sheets is one, that is, the job is one original document, the process proceeds to S102, and the paper ejection mode of the defective sheet is set to the first paper ejection mode.

If it is determined in S101 that the number of original sheets is not one, that is, the job is N original sheets, the process proceeds to S103, and the paper ejection mode of the defective sheet is set to the second paper ejection mode. After setting the paper ejection mode of the defective sheet, the process proceeds to S104, and the actual printing process and the image inspection process (S105) are performed on the paper.

If the image is determined to be normal as a result of the image inspection by the inspection device 150 in S105 (No side in S106), the transition to S111 is performed, and the sheet determined to be normal is discharged to the lift table 242 of the stacker 240.

If the image is determined to be abnormal as a result of the image inspection by the inspection device 150 in S105 (Yes side in S106), the process proceeds to S107, and the defective sheet is ejected according to the paper ejection mode set in S102 or S103. Processing is done.

When the set paper ejection mode is the first paper ejection mode (Yes side in S107), the transition to S108 is performed, and only the sheet determined to be the defective sheet is ejected to the escape tray 246 of the stacker 240. After that, the process proceeds to S115, and if there is a next sheet, the process returns to S104, the printing process and the inspection process for the next sheet are repeated, and the above process is performed for all the sheets of the job.

When the set paper ejection mode is the second paper ejection mode (No side in S107), the stacker 240 transitions to S109, and the sheet determined to be the defective sheet and the paper fed from the defective sheet succeeding the defective sheet. Paper is discharged to the escape tray 246 of. After that, it transitions to S110 and restarts printing from the page of the defective sheet, then transitions to S115, returns to S104 if there is a next paper, repeats the printing process and inspection process for the next paper, and all the jobs. The above processing is performed on the paper of.

As described above, by controlling the ejection mode of the defective sheet according to the number of original sheets, the page provides a bundle of toothlessness to the user when the defective sheet is detected in the N original sheet job. Can be prevented.

In addition, it is possible to minimize the amount of waste paper when a defective sheet is generated in a single document job.

100 Printing device 101 Host computer 105 Communication network 110 Controller board 111 Network communication controller 112 Non-volatile memory 113 RAM
114 CPU
115 HDD
116 Communication port 117 System bus 120 Operation panel 130 Printer engine 131 Camera unit 150 Inspection device 200 Image formation unit 210 Image fixing unit 240 Large capacity stacker 242 Lift table 246 Escape tray 250 Finisher

Claims (3)

A printing means that forms an image on a sheet,
Inspection means for determining defects in the image of the image-formed sheet,
An inspection result notification means for notifying the inspection result of the sheet by the inspection means, and
A defective sheet ejection tray that ejects a sheet determined to be defective as a result of inspection by the inspection means, and a defective sheet ejection tray.
A normal sheet ejection tray that ejects sheets judged to be normal as a result of inspection by the inspection means, and a normal sheet ejection tray.
As a result of applying the inspection means to any sheet, if it is determined to be a defective sheet, there are multiple ejection modes for ejecting the defective sheet to a separate output tray from the normal sheet, and the number of submitted job documents. Based on the mode switching means for switching the discharge mode,
An image forming system characterized by comprising. The ejection mode is a first ejection mode in which only the defective sheet is ejected to a paper ejection tray different from the normal sheet, and the defective sheet and the paper that has been fed after the defective sheet are ejected differently from the normal sheet. The image forming system according to claim 1, wherein the second paper ejection mode is ejected to a tray. The mode switching means switches to the first paper ejection mode when a job with one original sheet is input, and the second paper ejection mode when a job with two or more original sheets is input. The image forming system according to claim 1, wherein the image forming system is switched to.

Images