JP4678614B2 - Image forming apparatus and count control method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a count control method, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus having a function of printing a tint block and a count control method in the image forming apparatus.

  Image forming apparatuses such as copiers and multi-function peripherals (MFPs) having a color printing function are widespread, and various documents are printed at companies and the like. In particular, when a document including confidential information is printed, it is necessary to prevent leakage of secrets. Therefore, recent image forming apparatuses have a function called tint block printing (for example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2 below). ). In copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing, a specific character or pattern is embedded in a document so that it cannot be recognized with the naked eye. A specific character or pattern embedded in such an inconspicuous form is called a background pattern.

JP-A-53-142237 JP 54-74125 A

  By the way, in the case of a system that charges according to the number of printed sheets, since the amount charged for color printing and monochrome printing is different, the number of color printed sheets and the number of monochrome printed sheets are counted separately. Therefore, when a color image is included in at least a part of the document, it is usually counted as color printing.

  However, since the tint block is printed so that it cannot be seen with the naked eye, when printing with the tint block embedded in a document or when copying a document with a tint block embedded, whether to count as color printing or monochrome printing Causes various inconveniences.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a main object thereof is to provide an image forming apparatus and a count control method capable of eliminating the inconvenience caused when printing a tint block.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, in an image forming apparatus having a tint block printing function for embedding a tint block consisting of specific characters or patterns in an image of a manuscript so as to be inconspicuous, an original to be printed ( however, an embedded tint block portion is excluded ) The color mode and the determination unit for determining the color of the embedded background pattern, and if the embedded background pattern or the document excluding the background pattern is in color, the print output is also performed in color, and if the embedded background pattern and the original document excluding the background pattern are monochrome For example, when print output is performed in monochrome, the determination unit determines that the color mode of the document excluding the embedded background pattern is monochrome and the color of the background pattern is color. A section.

Further, the present invention provides a count control method in an image forming apparatus including a tint block printing function embedded unobtrusively ground pattern comprising a specific character or pattern in an image of a document, printing a document (although embedded background pattern portion excluding ) Color mode and the step of determining the color of the embedded background pattern, and if the embedded background pattern or the document excluding the background pattern is in color, the print output is also performed in color. If the embedded background pattern and the original document excluding the background pattern are monochrome, For example, when print output is performed in monochrome, and when the color mode of the document excluding the embedded background pattern is determined to be monochrome and the color of the background pattern is color in the determination step, the number of printed sheets is counted as monochrome printing And.

  According to the image forming apparatus and the count control method of the present invention, when copying a document in which a background pattern is embedded or printing with a background pattern embedded in a document, color printing or monochrome printing is performed according to a predetermined rule. Since it controls which is counted, it is possible to eliminate the inconvenience caused when printing a background pattern.

1 is a front view schematically showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a printing procedure using the image forming apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print job according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the counter information which concerns on 1st Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the other example of the counter information which concerns on 1st Example of this invention. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a printing procedure using an image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print job according to a second embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the counter information which concerns on 2nd Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the other example of the counter information which concerns on 2nd Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a setting of the tint block which concerns on 2nd Example of this invention. FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a copy procedure using an image forming apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print job according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in the background art, a background pattern may be printed on a document in order to prevent unauthorized copying. In this copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing, when illegal copying is performed, specific characters (so-called copy check characters) and specific patterns that can clearly be determined as being copied are brought out on the printed material, and copying is performed. This is an image overlay process for embedding the specific character or pattern so as not to be as conspicuous as possible in the original document before being processed.

  As described above, overlay images of specific characters or patterns on the background pattern have a characteristic that they are difficult to see with the naked eye. Therefore, there are various inconveniences depending on whether color printing or monochrome printing is performed when counting the number of printed sheets. Arise.

  Therefore, in order to eliminate such inconvenience in tint block printing, the control unit of the image forming apparatus controls whether to count as color printing or monochrome printing according to a predetermined rule. Hereinafter, each embodiment will be described in detail.

  First, an image forming apparatus and a count control method according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a front view schematically showing the configuration of the image forming apparatus of this embodiment, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration thereof, and FIG. 3 is a printing procedure using the image forming apparatus of this embodiment. FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print job, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are diagrams illustrating an example of counter information.

  As described above, when embedding a background pattern in a document for printing, inconvenience arises depending on whether it is counted as color printing or monochrome printing. For example, even when a color copy-forgery-inhibited pattern is embedded in a monochrome manuscript and printed, the user recognizes that the image has been output as monochrome printing, and therefore, there is a problem in that it is counted as color printing against the user's intention. Therefore, this embodiment proposes a method for eliminating such inconvenience.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present exemplary embodiment includes a control unit 11, an ADF (Auto Document Feeder) 12, an image reading unit 13, a paper feeding unit 14, and a display / operation unit. 15, an image forming unit 16, an image output unit 17, and the like.

  The control unit 11 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11a, a memory 11b such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory), an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 11c, and a communication I / F unit 11d. These are configured and are connected via a bus.

  The CPU 11a performs control of each unit and image processing.

  The memory 11b is a part that temporarily stores various data read from the image reading unit 13, the communication I / F unit 11d, and the HDD 11c. The stored data is processed by the CPU 11a, and the HDD 11c and image forming are performed as necessary. To the unit 16.

  The HDD 11c stores a program for the CPU 11a to control each unit, information on processing functions of the own device, a tint block pattern, and the like, read by the CPU 11a as necessary, and executed on the memory 11b.

  The communication I / F unit 11d establishes a connection with a server, a client, another device, etc., and executes data transmission / reception.

  Note that the control unit 11 is a part that controls each component, but in the present embodiment, in particular, a determination unit that determines the color mode of the document and the color of the background pattern, and a case where the color background pattern is embedded in a monochrome document and printed. In addition, it normally functions as a counting unit that performs count control for counting as color printing instead of counting as color printing. The control of the determination unit and the count unit may be executed as a program stored in the memory 11b or the HDD 11c, or may be executed as hardware. Note that the color mode usually represents the actual color of the original, but the color mode and the actual color of the original do not necessarily have to match.

  The ADF 12 automatically conveys one or more original sheets to the image reading unit 13.

  The image reading unit 13 includes a light source that scans a document on a document table, a CCD (Charge Coupled Devices) image sensor that converts light reflected from the document into an electrical signal, and an A / D that performs A / D conversion of the electrical signal. The image data is optically read from a document sheet on a document table.

  The paper supply unit 14 stores printing paper and sends the stored printing paper to the image forming unit 16.

  The image forming unit 16 includes elements necessary for forming an image in an image forming apparatus using an image forming process such as an electrophotographic method or an electrostatic recording method, that is, a photoconductor, a transfer belt, a fixing device, and various conveying belts. Etc. From the image data read from the image reading unit 13 or the print data received via the communication I / F unit 11d, an image is formed on the printing paper and sent to the image output unit 17.

  The display / operation unit 15 enables various settings relating to printing. Also, when a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing for embedding a color copy-forgery-inhibited pattern in a monochrome document is instructed, a warning screen is displayed as necessary, and a selection unit that can select whether to count as color printing or monochrome printing is displayed. To do. The display / operation unit 15 is a touch panel and can be operated in various ways. Note that this operation function is not limited to the touch panel, and any operation function can be provided as long as the operation function can be provided.

  The image output unit 17 outputs the sheet conveyed from the image forming unit 16 with finishing processing desired by the user such as punching, stapling, and bookbinding in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 11.

  1 and 2 are examples of the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present exemplary embodiment, and any configuration that can perform copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing and count control thereof may be used. For example, the ADF 12, the image reading unit 13, and the image output unit 17 may be used. Etc. can be omitted.

  Hereinafter, a printing procedure using the image forming apparatus 10 having the above configuration will be described with reference to a flowchart of FIG.

  First, in the case of copying, when an original is placed on the document table of the ADF 12 or the image reading unit 13 of the image forming apparatus 10 and the user operates the display / operation unit 15 to instruct a copy start, the image reading unit 13 reads the document. And output image data. In the case of network printing, a client or printer controller connected to the network via the communication I / F unit 11d of the image forming apparatus 10 uses PDL (Page Description Language) such as PCL (Printer Control Language) or PostScript. Receive the described print data. The image data, print data, and print instruction information are collectively called a print job. Thereafter, the image forming apparatus 10 feeds paper from the designated paper feed unit 14 in order to print out the formed image.

  This print job is composed of job information and page information as shown in FIG. 4 and image data composed of, for example, four colors of CYMK. The job information includes an ID for identifying a job, a job type, a user name, a job name, the number of pages, the number of copies, a binding direction, a stapling method, and the like. The page information includes image size, paper size, paper type, color mode, image orientation, paper feed unit designation, single-sided / double-sided discrimination, background pattern setting, and the like for each page. This print job is temporarily stored in the memory 11b, and converted into data that can be formed on a print sheet by the image forming unit 16 on the memory 11b. Various programs for this conversion processing are stored in the HDD 11c, and necessary programs are read by the CPU 11a.

  When the control unit 11 receives the print job (Yes in S101), the control unit 11 analyzes the job information included in the print job on the memory 11b (S102), and then analyzes the page information (S104).

  After image formation (S105) and image output (S106) based on the job information and page information, in step S107, the control unit 11 determines the color mode and tint block color based on the page information, and determines Based on the result, monochrome count (S108) or color count (S109) is performed to create counter information as shown in FIG. This counter information is information on the number of print sheets actually printed out by the image forming apparatus, which is held in the HDD 11c. In addition to the total number of printed sheets, the counters classified into the number of copies and the number of printers, Consists of counters classified into color and monochrome.

  Here, after the image is output, it should be added to the counter information of FIG. 5 according to the “color mode” of the page information of FIG. However, when a color copy-forgery-inhibited pattern is added even if the document is monochrome, the image is actually printed with color toner and ink. Count. Therefore, there is a disadvantage that the appearance is counted as color printing even in monochrome.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, from the standpoint that the tint block is originally “invisible”, in step S107, the control unit 11 sets the counter increment to the “tint block color” of the page information in FIG. First, the value shown in the “color mode” is used. For example, since the page information of the first page in FIG. 4 is “color mode” = monochrome, the counter information is increased to “monochrome” as shown in FIG. 5B in step S108.

  Thus, the discharge and counting of one page is completed, the process returns to step S103 (S110), and the same processing is repeated for all pages.

  In this way, in the case of a combination of a monochrome manuscript and a color copy-forgery-inhibited pattern, counting as monochrome printing results in counting according to the user's appearance, eliminating the inconvenience that the appearance does not match the actual count. Can do.

  In the above description, in the case of the combination of “monochrome original + color tint”, the monochrome count is fixed. However, in this combination, a warning screen is displayed on the display / operation unit 15 of the image forming apparatus 10. The user may be able to select whether to use a color count or a monochrome count.

  In addition to monochrome and color as counters, as shown in FIG. 6, a counter dedicated to a background pattern (security (background pattern) counter) is provided, and security (background pattern) is used instead of monochrome counting in the combination of a monochrome document and a color background pattern. ) You may count on a counter. This security (background pattern) counter is a counter that is counted when printing is performed with an additional function (in this case, a security function) independently of the conventional color-specific counter.

  Next, an image forming apparatus and a count control method according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a printing procedure using the image forming apparatus of this embodiment. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print job, FIGS. 9 and 10 are diagrams illustrating an example of counter information, and FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of setting a tint block.

  As described above, when embedding a background pattern in a document for printing, inconvenience arises depending on whether it is counted as color printing or monochrome printing. For example, an organization such as a company may make tint block printing mandatory. In this case, the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern parameter in the page information of FIG. 8 is set as “default”, and from the viewpoint of suppressing the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing from being performed in a setting other than the setting set by the organization, it may be counted as monochrome printing. It may not be appropriate. Therefore, in this embodiment, the control unit 11 counts as color printing with the intention of increasing the charge burden even when printing is performed with “monochrome original + background pattern OFF” or “monochrome original + monochrome background pattern”. Take control.

  Hereinafter, the printing procedure of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  When receiving the print job (Yes in S201), the control unit 11 analyzes the job information included in the print job shown in FIG. 8 on the memory 11b (S202), and then analyzes the page information (S204).

  After image formation (S205) and image output (S206) based on the job information and page information, in step S207, the control unit 11 determines the color mode based on the page information, and the color mode is monochrome. In step S208, the tint block color is determined based on the page information. Then, the control unit 11 performs a monochrome count (S209) or a color count (S210) based on the determination result, and creates counter information as shown in FIG.

  Specifically, when the “color mode” of the page information is “color” (the color in S207), “color” is used regardless of whether the “background pattern color” is “default / color / monochrome”. The counter information is increased (S210).

  Further, when the “color mode” of the page information is “monochrome” (monochrome in S207) and the “background pattern color” is “default” (default in S208), the counter information is increased as “monochrome” ( S209).

  On the other hand, when the “color mode” of the page information is “monochrome” (monochrome in S207) and the “background pattern color” is “non-default (color / monochrome)” (other than the default in S208), the default is set in the organization. In order to increase the burden of charging when the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing is performed with settings other than those set, the counter information is increased as “color” as shown in FIG. 9B (S210). Also, when the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern is not printed, since the setting is other than the default, the counter information is similarly increased to “color”.

  Here, “default” is set in advance by the administrator of the image forming apparatus 10 on the image forming apparatus side. For example, as shown in FIG. 11, a background pattern = ON, a background pattern character string = confidential, The background pattern is registered as an arabesque pattern and the background pattern color as cyan. This information is held in the HDD 11c and is read onto the memory 11b as necessary, and whether the background pattern, background pattern character string, background pattern, and background color of the page information match the “default” or on the memory 11b. Compared.

  Thus, the discharge and counting of one page is completed, the process returns to step S203 (S211), and the same processing is repeated for all pages.

  In this way, when the document does not match the “default” set on the image forming apparatus side, even if the document is monochrome, the background pattern is essential according to the company's policy and printing is performed according to the setting. Makes it possible to reduce the charge and increase the charge when printing with a setting deviating from the policy of the company or the like, and can suppress printing with a setting other than the default.

  In the present embodiment, in order to impose a high charge, a configuration is shown in which printing is performed as color printing when printing is performed with a setting other than the default. However, in addition to monochrome and color as a counter, as shown in FIG. A dedicated counter (non-default printing counter) that counts printing with a setting other than that may be provided, and when printing is performed with a setting other than the default, it may be counted as a non-default printing counter instead of a color counter.

  The second embodiment includes the following inventions (1) to (4).

  (1) In an image forming apparatus having a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing function for embedding a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern composed of specific characters or patterns in an image of a document inconspicuously, a control unit includes a determination unit and a count unit, and the determination unit prints When the color mode of the document is monochrome and the setting of the tint block printing is different from a predetermined setting, the counting unit determines the color mode of the manuscript and the number of copies printed as color printing regardless of the tint block color. Count.

  (2) In the image forming apparatus according to (1), the counting unit counts the number of printed sheets as the color printing, and separately counts the number of printed sheets whose copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing setting is different from a predetermined setting. An image forming apparatus.

  (3) A count control method in an image forming apparatus having a tint block printing function for embedding a tint block consisting of specific characters or patterns in an image of a document so as not to stand out, the step of determining a color mode of the document to be printed; When the color mode of the original is monochrome and the setting of the tint block printing is different from the predetermined setting, the process includes a step of counting the number of printed sheets as color printing regardless of the tint block color.

  (4) In the count control method of (3) above, the counting step counts the number of printed sheets as the color printing, and additionally counts the number of printed sheets whose copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing setting is different from a predetermined setting. A count control method characterized by the above.

  Next, an image forming apparatus and a count control method according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a printing procedure using the image forming apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print job.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, a case where a background pattern is embedded in a document for printing, that is, a case where a document as a hard copy in which the background pattern is embedded is created is described. However, in the case of copying (copying) a hard copy original in which a background pattern is embedded, inconvenience arises depending on whether it is counted as color printing or monochrome printing. For example, when the user makes a copy without knowing the presence of the background pattern, if the background pattern is in color even though the document is monochrome, there is a problem that it is counted as color printing against the user's intention. Therefore, in this embodiment, when the document is monochrome, the control unit 11 performs control to count as monochrome printing even if the background pattern is color.

  Hereinafter, the copying procedure of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  When the user places a document with a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern on the ADF 12 or the image reading unit 13 of the image forming apparatus, performs various copy settings using the display / operation unit 15 and instructs the copy start (S301), the control unit 11 The copy settings set by the display / operation unit 15 are set in the print job shown in FIG. 13 (S302).

  In this case, “copy” is set in the “job type” of the print job, and the parameters of the job information and the page information are slightly different from the case of “job type” = “print” in the above-described embodiment. Specifically, the “background pattern” parameter specifies under what conditions the background pattern is embedded in “print”, but it is not usually necessary to be aware of “background pattern” in “copy”. That is, when the original is optically read and normal image formation such as screen processing is performed, if no background pattern is embedded in the original, no background pattern will appear. If the background pattern is embedded in the original, it will be clearly visible. A ground pattern comes up.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, “background pattern = present / none” and “background pattern color = color / monochrome” are prepared as page information, and after reading the original (S304), the control unit 11 detects the background pattern from the original. Then, the tint block color is discriminated (S305), and the detected value is set in the page information as "ground pattern" and "ground pattern color" (S306). When documents are placed on the ADF 12, the documents are conveyed one by one from the ADF 12 to the image reading unit 13, and the processing from step S304 to step S306 is performed.

  Note that whether or not the original has a background pattern can be detected by recognizing the background pattern. For example, whether a background pattern is printed on the document by previously registering a background pattern in the HDD 11c of the image forming apparatus 10 and comparing the pattern detected from the document with the registered background pattern on the memory 11b. Can be determined.

  Also, when a document including a background pattern is optically read, if the document itself is monochrome but the background pattern is in color, the document color is recognized as color. Therefore, after detecting the tint block pattern and the tint block color, the color of the area excluding the tint block color is discriminated to discriminate only the color of the original. For example, if the tint block color is cyan, the color of the area other than cyan is discriminated. If it is color, it is discriminated as a color original, and if it is monochrome, it is discriminated as a monochrome original. set.

  However, in this embodiment, since the background color is ignored and counting is performed with the color of the document, detection of the background pattern and determination of the background color are not necessarily required for the control of the counter.

  When the document in the ADF 12 or the image reading unit 13 is finished, the repetitive processing from step S303 is finished (S307).

  Next, the control unit 11 analyzes the job information included in the print job shown in FIG. 15 on the memory 11b (S308), and then analyzes the page information (FIG. 15) for each page (S310).

  After image formation (S311) and image output (S312) based on the job information and page information, in step S313, the control unit 11 determines the color mode based on the page information, and based on the determination result. The counter information is created by monochrome count (S314) or color count (S315).

  Here, the value indicated by the “color mode” of the page information is the color of the document excluding the background pattern, and this value is normally added to the counter information. In other words, when color tint block printing is performed, printing is actually performed with color toner and ink, so the image forming apparatus forms an image in the color mode, and the counter is also performed in color. However, in this embodiment, from the standpoint that the background pattern embedded in the document is originally “invisible”, the “background pattern color” of the page information is not targeted, and the value indicated by “color mode” is used. Control the counter.

  Thus, the discharge and counting of one page is completed, the process returns to step S309 (S316), and the same processing is repeated for all pages.

  As described above, when copying an original on which a background pattern has been printed, color printing is performed when an invisible color background pattern is printed on the monochrome original by performing color counting or monochrome counting according to the color mode of the original. The inconvenience of being counted can be solved.

  In the above description, in the case of the combination of “monochrome original + color copy-forgery-inhibited pattern”, the monochrome count is fixed. However, in this combination, “color count” is displayed on the display / operation unit 15 of the image forming apparatus 10. The user may be able to select whether to perform “monochrome count”. As a form that can be selected by the user, either “color count” or “monochrome count” is selected (set) in advance, and all copies relating to a combination of “monochrome original + color tint” are uniformly distributed. Applying a selected count. As another form that can be selected by the user, every time copying of a combination of “monochrome original + color background pattern” is attempted, the display / operation unit 15 displays “monochrome original + color background pattern” as a color. In response to an instruction (selection) from the user regarding whether to copy or monochrome, color counting or monochrome counting is performed in accordance with this instruction.

  In each of the above embodiments, the case where the background pattern is actually printed on the paper is described. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and the “background pattern” is not actually printed on the paper and the electronic pattern is printed. The counter can be controlled in the same way for the case where it is held automatically. For example, when a storage medium such as an IC tag is embedded in original paper and the original is copied, an image held in the IC tag is read and an overlay image such as a printed background pattern is printed. However, the counter can be controlled similarly in such a case.

  The present invention can be used for an image forming apparatus capable of tint block printing and a count control method in the image forming apparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image forming apparatus 11 Control part 11a CPU
11b Memory 11c HDD
11d Communication I / F part 12 ADF
13 Image Reading Unit 14 Paper Feeding Unit 15 Display / Operation Unit 16 Image Forming Unit 17 Image Output Unit

Claims (2)

In an image forming apparatus having a tint block printing function for embedding a tint block consisting of specific characters or patterns in an image of a document so as not to stand out,
A determination unit for determining a color mode of a document to be printed ( excluding an embedded background pattern portion ) and a color of the embedded background pattern;
When the embedded background pattern or a document excluding the background pattern is in color, the print output is also performed in color, and when the embedded background pattern and the document excluding the background pattern is in monochrome, the output is also performed in monochrome, the embedding is performed by the determination unit. When it is determined that the color mode of the document excluding the background pattern is monochrome and the color of the background pattern is color, a counting unit that counts the number of printed sheets as monochrome printing;
An image forming apparatus comprising: A count control method in an image forming apparatus having a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing function for embedding a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern composed of specific characters or patterns in an image of a document inconspicuously,
Determining the color mode of the document to be printed ( excluding the embedded background pattern portion ) and the color of the embedded background pattern;
When the embedded background pattern or a document excluding the background pattern is in color, the print output is also performed in color, and when the embedded background pattern and the document excluding the background pattern are in monochrome, the print output is performed in monochrome, the embedding is performed by the determination step. A step of counting the number of prints as monochrome printing when it is determined that the color mode of the document excluding the background pattern is monochrome and the color of the background pattern is color;
A count control method comprising:

Images