JP4069082B2 - Image forming apparatus and control program therefor - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a control program therefor, and more specifically, an image in which a plurality of print color modes including a monochrome mode is executed by a paper feed source of a sheet to be printed. The present invention relates to a forming apparatus and a control program thereof.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image forming apparatus represented by a digital composite apparatus (multifunction peripheral (MFP)) or the like receives image data from an external host computer or directly from an image reading scanner provided in the apparatus main body. When the image data is read, a printing process based on the image data is performed on a sheet to be printed.

Further, in an image forming apparatus provided with a developing apparatus for forming a color image such as cyan, magenta, and yellow in addition to a developing apparatus for forming a monochrome image, a print color mode (monochrome mode) using a monochrome image or a color image is used. Printing processing in one of the printing color modes (color mode) was possible.
That is, monochrome processing can be performed in the monochrome mode, and monochrome (using a single color toner) or multicolor (two or more toner colors (for example, black and red) can be used in the color mode. )), Full color printing (using cyan, magenta, yellow, (black)).

In an image forming apparatus having such a monochrome mode and a color mode, the print color mode is normally set to the color mode, and the user can select the color mode only when the color mode is hardly output. The setting was changed to switch from monochrome to monochrome mode.
In addition, when the read image data includes even a little color information, some image data is set to be printed in the color mode.

However, the printing process in the color mode requires a longer processing time because it consumes a larger amount of toner than the monochrome mode and requires color adjustment.
In order to solve such a problem, the conventional image forming apparatus determines whether or not color information is included in the input image data. If the color information is not included, printing processing is performed in the monochrome mode. On the other hand, when color information is included, a technique is proposed in which the user is inquired whether to output in monochrome mode or color mode, and print processing is performed according to the selection by the user. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).
According to the conventional technology as described above, even if the color information is included in the image data, the monochrome mode can be designated by the user's selection, preventing unnecessary color mode output and toner consumption. It is possible to reduce the amount and improve the printing speed.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-204360 (page 6-7, FIG. 1)

However, even with the technique described in Patent Document 1, there is a problem that the user's designation operation is required to perform the printing process in the monochrome mode, and the troublesome setting is not solved.
Furthermore, during printing processing, the user has to specify multiple times, such as specifying paper size and printing color mode, so there is a problem that throughput of printing processing is reduced and productivity cannot be increased. .

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and in an image forming apparatus capable of printing processing in a color mode, it is not necessary to specify a printing color mode during printing processing. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of improving the throughput of printing processing and a control program therefor.

In order to achieve the above object, an image forming apparatus according to the present invention is an image forming apparatus that executes a printing process in any one of a plurality of print color modes, and that includes one or more paper supply units that store sheets to be printed. A print color mode setting means for presetting in which print color mode the paper fed from the paper feed means is to be printed on all or a part of one or two or more paper feed means; The paper feed designation screen for displaying the correspondence between each paper feed means and the print color mode set for these paper feed means is displayed on the paper feed designation screen and the display means for displaying during the printing process. Alternatively, an input unit that designates one of two or more sheet feeding units and a sheet feeding designation that designates one sheet feeding unit designated by the input unit as a sheet feeding unit that feeds paper. Specified by means and paper feed designation means A configuration equipped with a printing means for performing printing processing based on the print color mode is set in the paper feeding means is.

If the image forming apparatus is configured as described above, the print color mode setting unit includes the monochrome mode for sheets fed from the sheet feeding unit with respect to all or a part of one or more sheet feeding units. Since the printing color mode is set in advance, the printing color mode can be designated by specifying the paper feeding means. That is, it is possible to specify two conditions (paper size to be fed and print color mode) in one designation operation.
Therefore, the number of setting operations at the time of print processing is reduced, and the troublesome setting can be eliminated.
In addition, since the user can set both the paper size and the print color mode at one time by specifying a paper feed unit in which a combination of a desired paper size and a desired print color mode is set in advance, printing can be performed. Processing can be performed smoothly.
In addition, since the user does not need to specify the print color mode, the print processing throughput can be improved and the productivity can be improved.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention includes a monochrome mode as one of the print modes, and one or more of the paper feed units include a manual paper feed unit for performing manual paper feed, and a print color mode setting unit However, the manual sheet feeding means is set to the monochrome mode.
If the image forming apparatus has such a configuration, the manual paper feeding unit is set to the monochrome mode, so that the printing process in the monochrome mode can be performed at high speed and safely.
In other words, since the transport path from the manual paper feed unit to the paper discharge unit is shorter than the transport path from the multi-purpose tray, the printing process in the monochrome mode can be performed at a relatively high speed.
In addition, since the conveyance path from the manual paper feeding unit to the paper ejection unit is linear, there is little possibility of jamming such as a paper jam, and the printing process can be executed safely.

In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the two or more discharge units that discharge the paper that has been subjected to the printing process by the printing unit, and the discharge unit for all or part of the two or more discharge units. Discharge setting means for setting whether to discharge the paper that has been printed in the print color mode, and setting for discharging the paper in this print color mode according to the print color mode of the paper printed by the print means And a paper discharge control means for discharging the paper to the discharged paper discharge means.

With this configuration of the image forming apparatus, the paper discharge setting unit discharges the paper that has been printed in any print color mode with respect to all or part of the two or more paper discharge units. Depending on the print color mode of the paper printed by the printing means, the paper discharge control means discharges the paper to the paper discharge means set as the paper discharge destination of this print color mode. Since the paper is used, the user can discharge the paper printed in a specific print color mode at a desired paper discharge destination depending on the setting by the paper discharge setting unit.
Therefore, for example, if paper that has been printed in a specific print color mode is discharged to the top of a plurality of paper discharge stages, the paper that has been printed can be used immediately. It is also possible to prevent forgetting to remove the paper.

In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the print color mode setting unit is configured to make settings based on input information from an operation panel for inputting various setting information or a driver for controlling the apparatus.
If the image forming apparatus has such a configuration, the print color mode can be set by either the operation panel or the driver that controls the apparatus.
Therefore, even the user can easily set the print color mode through the operation panel and the driver that controls the apparatus without changing from the normal setting information.

In addition, the image forming apparatus of the present invention includes a GUI display unit (GUI: Graphical User Interface) that selectively displays a print color mode that can be set by the print color mode setting unit, and the print color mode setting unit includes: The setting is made based on the print color mode selected according to the display by the GUI display means.
If the image forming apparatus has such a configuration, the print color mode can be displayed as an icon or the like on the display screen of the GUI display means, so that the user can select and input easily and quickly. .

Further, the control program for the image forming apparatus of the present invention is a control program for the image forming apparatus that executes a printing process in any one of a plurality of print color modes, and includes one or two or more for storing sheets to be printed. A print color mode setting step for presetting in which print color mode the paper fed from the paper feed means is to be printed on all or a part of the paper feed means; A step of displaying a paper feed designation screen for displaying the correspondence with the print color mode set in the paper means at the time of the printing process, and one or more of the paper feed means displayed in a selectable manner on the paper feed designation screen A step of designating any one of the paper feed units, a paper feed designation step of designating the designated one of the paper feed units as a paper feed unit for feeding paper, and a paper feed designated by the paper feed designation step There as a control program for executing the printing step of executing printing process based on the print color mode set in the unit to the image forming apparatus.

If the control program of the image forming apparatus is such a control program, for example, a printing medium is stored by directly mounting a recording medium storing the control program on an image forming apparatus equipped with a computer and causing the computer to read the print color mode. In the setting step, for all or a part of one or two or more paper feeding units, it is set in advance whether a paper fed from the paper feeding unit is to be printed in a print color mode including a monochrome mode. Therefore, when the paper feeding means is designated, the print color mode can also be designated. That is, it is possible to specify two conditions (paper size to be fed and print color mode) in one designation operation.
Therefore, for example, if a recording medium storing a control program for the image forming apparatus is directly mounted on a computer and read by the computer, the print color mode for the paper feeding unit can be set, and a setting operation at the time of print processing can be performed. The number of times is reduced, and the troublesome setting can be solved.

In addition, since the user can set both the paper size and the print color mode at one time by specifying a paper feed unit in which a combination of a desired paper size and a desired print color mode is set in advance, printing can be performed. Processing can be performed smoothly.
In addition, since the user does not need to specify the print color mode, the print processing throughput can be improved and the productivity can be improved.

The control program for an image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes a monochrome mode as one of the print color modes in the control program for an image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein one or more paper feeding units are manually inserted. The control program includes a manual sheet feeding unit for performing sheet feeding, and sets the manual sheet feeding unit to the monochrome mode in the print color mode setting step.

The control program for an image forming apparatus according to the present invention is the control program for an image forming apparatus according to claim 6 or 7, wherein one or two or more discharge means for discharging the sheet printed by the printing means are used. Depending on the print color mode of the paper printed by the printing means and the paper discharge setting step for setting the print color mode for which the paper discharge means discharges the printed paper for all or part of the paper Thus, a control program for causing the image forming apparatus to execute a paper discharge control step of discharging the paper to a paper discharge unit set to discharge the paper in the print color mode.

The control program for an image forming apparatus according to the present invention is an operation panel for inputting various setting information in the print color mode setting step in the control program for an image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 6 to 8. Or a control program that performs settings based on input information from a driver that controls the apparatus.

The control program for an image forming apparatus according to the present invention is a control program for an image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 6 to 9, wherein the print color mode that can be set in the print color mode setting step is a GUI. The control unit has a step of displaying the display unit so that it can be selected, and the control program performs setting based on the print color mode selected in accordance with the display by the GUI display unit in the print color mode setting step.

  According to the present invention, it is set in advance in which print color mode including the monochrome mode is used to print the paper fed from the paper feed unit for all or a part of one or more of the paper feed units. Therefore, the user can set the paper size and print color mode simply by specifying one of the two or more paper feeding means, eliminating the troublesome setting. Can be made.

  In addition, since the user does not need to specify the print color mode, the print processing throughput can be improved and the productivity can be improved.

[First embodiment]
First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
The configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
However, although the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a copying machine as a specific example, the image forming apparatus of the first embodiment is not limited to a copying machine. For example, a printer, a facsimile, a scanner, a digital Including complex devices (multifunction peripherals (MFP)).

  Furthermore, when the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment is a printer, the printer includes various printing methods such as an inkjet printer, a sublimation type thermal transfer printer, a dot impact printer, a laser printer, and a fusion type thermal transfer printer. A printer is provided.

As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 10 includes a multi-purpose tray (paper feeding unit) 10-1, a manual paper feeding tray (paper feeding unit) 10-2, a conveying belt 10-3, a developing unit. (Printing means) 10-4, paper discharge control means 10-5, paper discharge tray (paper discharge means) 10-6, and document discharge tray 10-7.
The multi-purpose tray 10-1 is composed of a plurality of paper feed trays stacked vertically, and each paper feed tray accommodates paper of a predetermined size.

The manual paper feed tray 10-2 is a tray unit for performing manual paper feeding, and can take in paper of various sizes and thick paper.
Further, since the paper transport path from the manual paper feed tray 10-2 to the paper discharge tray 10-6 is linear, the possibility of jamming such as paper jam during transport is low and safety is high.
The transport belt 10-3 transports the paper to be printed taken from the multi-purpose tray 10-1 or the manual feed tray 10-2 to the developing unit 10-4, and is subjected to printing processing by the developing unit 10-4. The paper is further conveyed to the paper discharge control means 10-5.

The developing unit 10-4 executes print processing based on the print color mode set in the paper feed tray designated by the paper feed designation unit 13-2.
The developing unit 10-4 includes a toner cartridge for color development and a toner cartridge for monochrome development, and has a writing light source, a photosensitive drum, and a developing device for each color. That is, the developing unit 10-4 can perform toner image formation for each color in parallel on the paper conveyed by the conveying belt 10-3.

The paper discharge control means 10-5 discharges the paper that has been printed by the developing unit 10-4 and has been transported by the transport belt 10-3 to one of a plurality of paper discharge trays 10-6.
That is, the paper discharge control means 10-5 performs control to switch a paper discharge tray as a paper discharge destination depending on in which print color mode the conveyed paper is printed.

The paper discharge tray 10-6 is a tray having a plurality of stages, and discharges the printed paper.
The original discharge tray 10-7 discharges the original after reading when the original is read.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 10 is connected to a network 20, and communicates with a plurality of personal computers (information terminal apparatuses) 30 a to 30 n (hereinafter referred to as “information terminal apparatus 30” for short) via the network 20. Connected as possible. The block configuration of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 2 is a minimum configuration for explaining the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus includes a network interface 11, an image reading unit 12, a control unit 13, a storage unit 14, an engine unit 15, a display unit 16, and an input unit 17. Have.
The network interface (network I / F) 11 is physically connected to the network 20 and is an interface that transmits and receives data to and from the information terminal device 30.
The image reading unit 12 is constituted by, for example, a scanner. When image information is read from a document, image data is generated and output based on the image information.

The control unit 13 is a device that performs overall control of the functions of the image forming apparatus, and includes a CPU and a memory. The control unit 13 includes a print color mode setting unit 13-1, a paper feed designation unit 13-2, an engine control unit 13-3, and a display. It has a controller 13-4 and an input controller 13-5.
The print color mode setting unit 13-1 receives input information from an operation panel for inputting various setting information or input information included in a driver that controls the apparatus, and each paper feed tray of the multipurpose tray 10-1. For all or a part of the manual paper feed tray 10-2, it is set in advance in which print color mode the paper fed from the paper feed tray or the manual paper feed tray 10-2 is printed.
The driver is software built in the information terminal device 30 and performs various controls of the image forming apparatus via the network 20.

  The print color mode includes a monochrome mode for printing with a monochrome image and a color mode for printing with a color image. In the monochrome mode, monochrome printing processing can be performed. ), Multicolor (using two or more toner colors (for example, black and red can be used)), and full color (using cyan, magenta, yellow, (black)) can be performed.

Various methods are conceivable for setting the print color mode. In the first embodiment, the monochrome input mode setting input is set for the paper feed tray to which the monochrome mode setting input has been input. If there is no paper feed tray, the color mode is set.
Further, when the print color mode setting unit 13-1 sets the print color mode for each paper feed tray and manual paper feed tray 10-2 of the multipurpose tray 10-1, this setting information is stored in the storage unit 14. Let

  Further, when the image forming apparatus 10 includes a liquid crystal touch panel (GUI display unit) 16 that displays a print color mode that can be set by the print color mode setting unit 13-1, the print color mode is displayed. The setting unit 13-1 performs setting based on the print color mode selected according to the display on the liquid crystal touch panel 16.

The paper feed designation unit 13-2 designates which of the paper feed tray 10-1 and the manual paper feed tray 10-2 is to execute the printing process.
That is, when the user inputs paper feed tray designation information for designating a paper feed tray to be fed from the input means 17, and the paper feed designation unit 13-2 reads this via the input control unit 13-5, A control command based on the paper tray designation information is output to the engine control unit 13-3.

The engine control unit 13-3 is a device that controls the engine unit 15 and controls the engine unit 15 to perform a printing process using paper stored in a paper feed tray designated by the paper feed designation unit 13-2. .
That is, the engine control unit 13-3 controls the engine unit 15 when the start button 17-4 of the input unit 17 is pressed, and feeds paper from the paper feed tray designated by the paper feed designation unit 13-2. Make paper. Further, the engine control unit 13-3 reads out the print color mode set for the designated paper feed tray from the storage unit 14, and causes the engine unit 15 to execute print processing according to the read print color mode.

The display control unit 13-4 displays an initial setting screen on the display unit 16 in response to the initial setting request input from the input unit 17.
The input control unit 13-5 receives data set and input by the input unit 17. Thereby, for example, the printing color mode setting unit 13-1 can set which printing color mode the printing process is executed on the basis of the setting.
The storage unit 14 is composed of, for example, a hard disk or the like, and print color mode setting information for the paper feed tray 10-1 and the manual paper feed tray 10-2 set by the print color mode setting unit 13-1 at the initial setting. Remember.

The engine unit (printing unit) 15 includes the above-described developing unit 10-4 and is a mechanism (mechanical) unit that actually performs a printing process. He is in charge of the physical printing process itself, such as actually fixing ink and toner on paper, such as paper feeding, drum charging, laser irradiation, toner application, paper transfer, and fixing.
That is, when the engine unit 15 obtains information on the paper feed tray designated by the paper feed designation unit 13-2 via the engine control unit 13-3, the engine unit 15 feeds the paper stored in the paper feed tray. To the conveyor belt 10-3. Further, the engine unit 15 executes a printing process using the toner of the developing unit 10-4 corresponding to the printing color mode read by the engine control unit 13-3.

The display means 16 is composed of, for example, a liquid crystal display device, a cathode ray tube display device, and the like, and displays information data sent from the display control unit 13-4 on the screen.
The input unit 17 performs various settings for print processing performed in the image forming apparatus 10.
Further, the input unit 17 inputs paper feed tray designation information for designating a paper feed tray to be fed and makes an initial setting request.
Here, FIG. 3 is an external view of an operation panel having both a display unit and an input unit in the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment.
As illustrated here, the display unit 16 and the input unit 17 are mostly incorporated in a single operation panel 18, and by using a liquid crystal touch panel (GUI display unit) for the display unit 16, It also functions as the input means 17.

3, the operation panel 18 includes display means 16 and input means 17 including an initial setting request button 17-1, a reset button 17-2, a stop / clear button 17-3, and a start button 17-4. ing.
When the initial setting request button 17-1 is pressed, the operation panel 18 displays a menu screen on which various items that can be initially set are displayed as icons on the display means 16.

FIG. 4 is a menu screen displayed on the display means when the initial setting request button is selected and input on the operation panel shown in FIG.
In FIG. 4, when “device setting” is selected and input from various icons displayed on the menu screen, the menu screen is switched to the device setting screen.
FIG. 5 is a device setting screen displayed on the display means when device setting is selected and input on the menu display screen shown in FIG.
In FIG. 5, the device setting screen displays icons for the paper feed trays (cassette 1 to cassette 4) and the manual paper feed tray 10-2 that can be set to the monochrome mode.

FIG. 6 is displayed on the display unit when “manual paper feed tray” is selected and input as a paper feed tray to be set to the monochrome mode on the device setting screen shown in FIG. 5 and “next” is input. It is a setting confirmation screen.
In FIG. 6, the setting confirmation screen displays the message “Manual mode. Do you want to make this setting?” Along with the selected tray name “manual feed tray”. Here, when “OK” is input, the device setting is finally determined.
If the paper discharge tray selected and input on the device setting screen has already been set to the monochrome mode, a message “Do you want to cancel the monochrome mode?” Can be displayed on the setting confirmation screen.

  Therefore, the print color mode setting unit 13-1 can set the manual paper feed tray 10-2 to the monochrome mode. Here, since the transport path from the manual paper feed tray 10-2 to the paper discharge tray 10-6 is shorter than the transport path from the multi-purpose tray 10-1, print processing in the monochrome mode is performed at a relatively high speed. Therefore, the printing process in the monochrome mode can be performed at high speed and safely.

  Further, as described above, if the operation panel 18 equipped with a liquid crystal touch panel is used, the print color mode can be displayed with an icon or the like so that the user can select and input easily and quickly. .

Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an initial setting operation of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment.
In FIG. 7, the control means 13 determines whether or not the initial setting button 17-1 has been pressed on the input means 17 (step S701).
If it is determined in step S701 that the initial setting button 17-1 has been pressed, a menu screen is displayed on the display means 16 (step S702). This menu screen is displayed by the display means 16 using a touch panel method, and can be easily set and operated by selecting and inputting an icon on the menu screen.

Then, the control unit 13 determines whether or not a device setting is selected and input from the menu screen displayed in step S702 (step S703).
If it is determined in step S703 that the device setting has been selected and input, the device setting screen is displayed on the display means 16 (step S704). This device setting screen is also displayed by the display means 16 using a touch panel method, and can be easily set and operated by selecting and inputting an icon on the device setting screen.
On the other hand, if it is not determined in step S703 that the device setting has been selected and input, the initial setting is terminated.

When a specific icon is selected and input from the device setting screen displayed in step S704, the print color mode for the paper in the multi-purpose tray 10-1 or the manual feed tray 10-2 indicated by the icon is set to monochrome. The mode is set (step S705 (print color mode setting step)).
Next, the setting information set in step S705 is stored in the storage means 14 (step S706), and the initial setting is completed.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation during the printing process of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment.
In FIG. 8, when image data is input via the network 20 or when image data is read from the image reading means 12, the control means 13 stores the print processing based on the image data in any paper feed tray. A paper feed designation screen is displayed on the display means 16 in order to select whether or not to use the printed paper (step S801).
FIG. 9 shows a display example of a paper feed designation screen displayed on the display unit of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 9, on the paper feed designation screen, paper feed trays that can be designated at the time of print processing are displayed as icons so that they can be selected and input, and are specified by selecting a paper feed tray corresponding to each icon. The type of print color mode is displayed.

In step S801, it is determined whether or not an operation (paper feed designation step) for designating which paper tray contains the paper to be printed is input by selecting an icon (step S802).
Next, if it is determined in step S802 that a paper feed designation selection input has been made, the printing process is executed in accordance with the print color mode set in the selected paper feed tray (step S803 (printing step)). The process is terminated.

As described above, in the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the print color mode setting unit 13-1 supplies paper to all or a part of the paper supply trays 10-1 and 10-2. Since the paper color fed from the tray is set in advance in any of the print color modes including the monochrome mode, the print color mode can be designated by designating the paper feed tray. That is, it is possible to specify two conditions (paper size to be fed and print color mode) in one designation operation.
Therefore, the number of setting operations at the time of print processing is reduced, and the troublesome setting can be eliminated.

In addition, if the user designates a paper feed tray in which a combination of a desired paper size and a desired printing color mode is set in advance, both the paper size and the printing color mode can be set at one time. Processing can be performed smoothly.
In addition, since the user does not need to specify the print color mode, the print processing throughput can be improved and the productivity can be improved.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
Note that the configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment is substantially the same as the configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment, and therefore only the differences will be described below.
FIG. 10 is an internal configuration diagram of a control unit in the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 10, the control means 13 has a paper discharge setting unit 13-6 as a new configuration.
The paper discharge setting unit 13-6 determines which print color mode the paper discharge tray discharges on all or a part of one or two or more paper discharge trays 10-6. Set.
In other words, the paper discharge setting unit 13-6 receives the paper discharge tray setting information for setting which paper is to be discharged in which print color mode from the input unit 17, and outputs this information to the paper discharge setting unit. 13-6 reads through the input controller 13-5, and outputs a control command based on the discharge tray designation information to the discharge control means 10-5.

  Accordingly, the paper discharge control means 10-5 determines in which print color mode the paper that has been printed by the developing unit 10-4 and has been transported by the transport belt 10-3 is printed. Then, the sheet conveyed to the discharge tray 10-6 set to discharge the sheet in the print color mode is discharged.

As described above, according to the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the paper discharge setting unit 13-6 is configured so that all or a part of one or two or more paper discharge trays 10-6 are It is set in which print color mode the paper discharge tray discharges the printed paper, and the paper discharge control means 10-5 selects this according to the print color mode of the paper printed by the engine unit 15. The paper is discharged to a paper discharge tray 10-6 set as a paper discharge destination in the print color mode. Therefore, the user can discharge a sheet printed in a specific print color mode at a desired discharge destination, depending on the setting by the discharge setting unit 13-6.
Therefore, for example, if paper that has been printed in a specific print color mode is discharged to the top of a plurality of paper discharge stages, the paper that has been printed can be used immediately. It is also possible to prevent forgetting to remove the paper.

The image forming apparatus according to the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment. However, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention. It goes without saying that implementation is possible.
For example, the above-described print color mode setting unit 13-1 is configured to set the monochrome mode only for the selected paper feed trays 10-1 and 10-2. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It is also possible to set the paper tray to the color mode, or to set and input the monochrome mode and the color mode, respectively.

Further, the image forming apparatus according to the above embodiment can be executed by an image forming apparatus controlled by a control program. The control program for the image forming apparatus is provided by a recording medium, for example. As the recording medium, for example, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a semiconductor memory, or any other means that can be read by an image forming apparatus can be used.
Also, the control program for the image forming apparatus recorded on the recording medium can be directly loaded into the image forming apparatus and read into the image forming apparatus, and can also be read into the image forming apparatus via a communication line. You may make it.

  Suitable for image forming apparatuses such as printers, facsimiles, scanners, digital composite devices (multifunction peripherals (MFPs)), etc., which can select and set which of a plurality of print color modes including a monochrome mode is used for printing processing. Can be used.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 1 is an external view of an operation panel of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a menu screen on the operation panel of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a device setting screen on the operation panel of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a setting confirmation screen on the operation panel of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an initial setting operation in the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation during a printing process in the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a display example of a paper feed designation screen displayed on a display unit of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is an internal configuration diagram of a control unit in an image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

10 Image Forming Apparatus 10-1 Multipurpose Tray (Paper Feeding Unit)
10-2 Manual feed tray (paper feed means)
10-3 Conveying belt 10-4 Developing section (printing means)
10-5 Paper discharge control means 10-6 Paper discharge tray (paper discharge means)
10-7 Document output tray 11 Network interface (network I / F)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 Image reading means 13 Control means 13-1 Printing color mode setting part 13-2 Paper feed designation part 13-3 Engine control part 13-4 Display control part 13-5 Input control part 13-6 Paper discharge setting part 14 Storage means DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 15 Engine part 16 Display means 17 Input means 17-1 Initial setting request button 17-2 Reset button 17-3 Stop / clear button 17-4 Start button 18 Operation panel 20 Network 30 Information terminal device

Claims (10)

An image forming apparatus that executes a printing process in any one of a plurality of printing color modes,
One or more paper feeding means for storing paper to be printed;
A print color mode setting means for presetting in which print color mode the paper fed from the paper feed means is printed on all or a part of the one or more paper feed means;
Display means for displaying a paper feed designation screen for displaying the correspondence between each of the paper feed means and the print color mode set for these paper feed means;
An input unit for designating any one of two or more sheet feeding units displayed selectably on the sheet feeding designation screen;
A paper feed designating unit for designating the one paper feed unit designated by the input unit as a paper feed unit for feeding paper;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a printing unit that executes a printing process based on a printing color mode set in the paper feeding unit designated by the paper feeding designation unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
One of the print color modes includes a monochrome mode,
The one or more paper feeding means includes manual paper feeding means for performing manual paper feeding,
The image forming apparatus, wherein the print color mode setting unit sets the manual sheet feeding unit to the monochrome mode. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
Two or more paper discharge means for discharging the paper printed by the printing means;
A paper discharge setting unit that sets, for all or a part of the two or more paper discharge units, which paper discharge mode the paper discharged by the paper discharge unit is discharged;
A discharge control unit that discharges the sheet to the discharge unit that is set to discharge the sheet in the print color mode according to the print color mode of the sheet printed by the printing unit. An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
The image forming apparatus, wherein the print color mode setting unit performs setting based on input information from an operation panel for inputting various setting information or a driver for controlling the apparatus. In the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
GUI display means for selectively displaying a print color mode that can be set by the print color mode setting means,
The image forming apparatus, wherein the print color mode setting unit performs setting based on a print color mode selected in accordance with display by the GUI display unit. A control program for an image forming apparatus that executes a printing process in any one of a plurality of printing color modes,
A print color that pre-sets in which print color mode the paper fed from the paper feed means is to be printed on all or part of one or more paper feed means containing the paper to be printed A mode setting step;
Displaying a paper feed designation screen for displaying the correspondence between each of the paper feed means and the print color mode set in the paper feed means at the time of print processing;
Designating any one of two or more paper feed means displayed in a selectable manner on the paper feed designation screen;
A paper feed designation step for designating one designated paper feed means as a paper feed means for feeding paper;
A control program for an image forming apparatus, characterized by causing an image forming apparatus to execute a printing step for executing a printing process based on a printing color mode set in a paper feeding means designated in the paper feeding designation step. The image forming apparatus control program according to claim 6.
One of the print color modes includes a monochrome mode,
The one or more paper feeding means includes manual paper feeding means for performing manual paper feeding,
In the print color mode setting step, the manual sheet feeding unit is set to the monochrome mode.
A control program for an image forming apparatus. The control program for an image forming apparatus according to claim 6 or 7,
For all or part of the two or more paper discharge units that discharge the paper that has been subjected to the printing process by the printing unit, it is set which print color mode the paper discharge unit discharges the paper that has undergone the printing process. Steps,
Causing the image forming apparatus to execute a step of discharging the paper to the paper discharge unit which is set to discharge the paper in the print color mode according to the print color mode of the paper printed by the printing unit.
A control program for an image forming apparatus. In the control program of the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 6 to 8,
In the print color mode setting step, setting is performed based on input information from an operation panel for inputting various setting information or a driver for controlling the apparatus.
A control program for an image forming apparatus. In the control program of the image forming device according to any one of claims 6 to 9,
A step of displaying the print color mode that can be set in the print color mode setting step so that the GUI display means can be selected;
In the print color mode setting step, setting is performed based on the print color mode selected according to the display by the GUI display means.
A control program for an image forming apparatus.

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