JP4987742B2 - Image forming apparatus, program, and image forming method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, a program, and an image forming method capable of printing a special typeface called a MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition) font using a magnetic member on a check, a bill or the like.

  There is a system that uses a magnetic ink or magnetic toner to print a specially-designed typeface called MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition) font on a check, etc., and then reads and sorts it with a device called MICR reader sorter . Such a system is widely used in Europe and the United States.

  In Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, in an image forming apparatus having an image forming apparatus main body and a process cartridge that is detachable from the image forming apparatus main body, an image forming that can be used as a MICR printer or a normal printer by replacing the process cartridge. An apparatus is disclosed.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-161508 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-151832

  However, according to the image forming apparatuses described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, the paper used for MICR printing is a special paper such as a check or a bill (special paper for MICR printing). Remember the paper tray that stores paper (special paper for MICR printing), and explicitly specify the paper tray that stores special paper (special paper for MICR printing) when printing There is a need.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and does not require the user to explicitly designate a MICR paper feed tray storing special paper (special paper for MICR printing). An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus, a program, and an image forming method capable of specifying a sheet feeding tray.

In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, an image forming apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a print job determination unit that determines the type of a print job received from an external apparatus, and a cartridge used for image formation. A main body that is detachably held, a cartridge determination means that determines the type of the cartridge held in the main body, and a MICR cartridge in which the cartridge type is used for MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition) by the cartridge determination means. If it is determined that there is a print job, the print job determination unit determines that the type of the print job is a print job for MICR to which authentication information is added. When automatic paper selection is selected to automatically select the authentication unit that performs authentication and the paper tray that feeds the recording paper In addition, a tray lock unit that sets the paper feed tray to be excluded from paper feed, and a paper feed from the paper feed tray that is not subject to paper feed by the tray lock unit when authenticated by the authentication unit. The MICR printing unit that executes the image forming process according to the MICR print job, and the authentication unit that authenticates, and the paper feed tray is not specified in the MICR print job. Includes a second search unit that searches for the paper feed tray that is not a paper feed target, and the MICR printing unit is not a paper feed target searched by the second search unit. An image forming process is performed according to the MICR print job by feeding paper from a paper feed tray .

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, when the authentication unit authenticates, the paper feed tray is designated in the MICR print job. In this case, when the designated paper feed tray is not excluded from the paper feed target by the tray lock means, the first feed means includes a first search means for searching for the paper feed tray that is not the paper feed target. The MICR printing unit feeds paper from the paper feed tray, which is excluded from the paper feed searched by the first search unit, and executes image forming processing according to the MICR print job. To do.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, the authentication unit does not authenticate, and the paper feed tray is specified in the MICR print job. And if the designated paper feed tray is excluded from the paper feed target by the tray lock means, the designation of the paper feed tray is canceled and the paper feed not designated as the paper feed target is released. A third search unit for searching for a tray, and a sheet feeding from the sheet feeding tray that has not been excluded by the third searching unit, and performing an image forming process in accordance with the MICR print job And a printing unit.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the sheet feeding tray is authenticated by the authenticating unit and is excluded from a sheet feeding target by the tray locking unit. In the case where the print job for MICR does not exist, a first accumulation unit for executing a process of temporarily accumulating the MICR print job in a storage unit is provided.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the fourth aspect , the MICR printing unit is configured on the condition that the sheet feeding tray is excluded from a sheet feeding target by the tray locking unit. The MICR print job stored in the storage unit is read by the first storage unit, fed from the paper feed tray that is not a paper feed target, and executes image forming processing according to the MICR print job. It is characterized by that.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, when the authentication unit authenticates, the paper feed tray is excluded from a paper feed target by the tray lock unit. In the case where there is not, there is provided a first reset means for executing a process of resetting the MICR print job.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, the print job determining unit determines that the type of the print job is a normal print job to which no authentication information is added. If there is only the paper feed tray that is not subject to paper feed by the tray lock means, the process of temporarily storing the normal print job in the storage unit is executed. The second storage means is provided.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, the print job determining unit determines that the type of the print job is a normal print job to which no authentication information is added. A second reset unit that executes a process of resetting the normal print job when there is only the paper feed tray that is not to be fed by the tray lock unit. It is characterized by that.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, the authentication unit does not authenticate, and the paper feed tray is not specified in the MICR print job. When there is only the paper feed tray that is not subject to paper feed by the tray lock means, the third accumulation for executing the process of temporarily accumulating the MICR print job in the storage unit Means.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, the authentication unit does not authenticate, and the paper feed tray is not specified in the MICR print job. And a third reset unit that executes a process of resetting the MICR print job when only the sheet feed tray that is excluded from the sheet feed by the tray lock unit exists. To do.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program stored in a main body that detachably holds a print job determination unit that determines the type of a print job received from an external device and a cartridge used for image formation. A cartridge determining means for determining the type of the cartridge, and a case where the cartridge determining means determines that the cartridge type is an MICR cartridge used for MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition), wherein the print job determining means When the print job type is determined to be a print job for MICR to which authentication information is added, authentication means for performing password authentication using the authentication information and paper feed for feeding recording paper The paper tray that is excluded from paper feed when automatic paper selection is performed to automatically select a tray A tray lock unit that sets the image, and an image forming process according to the MICR print job by feeding from the paper feed tray that is not the target of paper feed by the tray lock unit when authenticated by the authentication unit And when the authentication means authenticates, and the paper feed tray is not specified in the MICR print job, the paper feed that is not subject to paper feed. A MICR printing unit that feeds paper from the paper feed tray that is excluded from the paper feed searched by the second search unit. The image forming process is executed according to the print job .

The image forming method of the invention according to claim 12, the print job determination unit, and determining the type of print job received from the external apparatus, the cartridge determining means, detachably holding the cartridge used in the image forming The step of determining the type of the cartridge held in the main body and the authentication means determine that the cartridge type is an MICR cartridge used for MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition) by the cartridge determination means And when the print job determination means determines that the type of the print job is a print job for MICR to which authentication information is added, performing password authentication using the authentication information; Tray lock means automatically selects the paper tray for feeding recording paper The step of setting the paper feed tray to be excluded from paper feed at the time of paper selection, and the paper feed that has been excluded from paper feed by the tray lock means when the MICR printing means is authenticated by the authentication means. A step of feeding an image from a paper tray and executing an image forming process according to the MICR print job; and a case where the second search means is authenticated by the authentication means, If not specified input tray is seen containing a step of retrieving the paper feed tray which is a paper feed excluded, and the MICR printing means, sheet feeding retrieved by the second retrieving means An image forming process is performed according to the MICR print job by feeding paper from the paper feed tray that is not a target .

  According to the present invention, it is determined that the cartridge type is a MICR cartridge used for MICR, and the print job type is determined to be a MICR print job to which authentication information is added. In this case, password authentication is performed using the authentication information. Then, when authenticated, paper is fed from a paper feed tray that is excluded from paper feed when automatic paper selection is performed, and image forming processing is executed in accordance with a MICR print job. Even if no paper tray is specified, special paper (special paper for MICR printing) is stored in the paper feed tray that is not subject to paper feed when automatic paper is selected by applying the existing tray lock function. Since it is determined as a paper feed tray, if special paper (special paper for MICR printing) is stored in the paper feed tray for which the tray lock function has been set in advance, the user explicitly specifies special paper (special paper for MICR printing). ), The MICR paper feed tray can be specified without specifying the MICR paper feed tray.

  Exemplary embodiments of an image forming apparatus, a program, and an image forming method according to the present invention will be explained below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. This embodiment is an example in which a laser printer is applied as an image forming apparatus.

  FIG. 1 is a central cross-sectional view showing the internal structure of a laser printer 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a laser printer 100 has a process cartridge 2 detachably held in a main body 1 thereof. The process cartridge 2 includes a photoconductor 11, a charging roller 12, a waste toner collecting unit 13 having a cleaning unit 13a, a developing unit 14 having a toner storage unit 14a, and the like (all-in-one). Process the process.

  The laser printer 100 further includes an optical writing unit 3 in the main body 1 for writing on the photosensitive member 11 with a light beam. The optical writing unit 3 includes a polygon motor, a polygon mirror, an Fθ lens, a laser diode, a mirror (all not shown), and the like. In addition, the laser printer 100 includes a plurality of paper feed trays 4, pickup rollers 6, transfer rollers 7, fixing rollers 8, and the like in the main body 1, which are described below for the operation of the laser printer 100. In

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the controller 101 of the laser printer 100. As shown in FIG. 2, the laser printer 100 includes a controller 101 that performs various control processes such as a control process of each unit of the laser printer 100 and an image forming process. The printer controller 61 is connected to an operation panel 120 and a printer engine 130 including the process cartridge 2. The operation panel 120 is an operation display unit that receives operations for displayed items, and has a user interface that can change the status display, mode, and printing conditions of the laser printer 100. The printer engine 130 includes the process cartridge 2, the optical writing unit 3, the transfer roller 7, the fixing roller 8, and the like as described above, forms an image by the electrophotographic process method, and is fed from the paper feed tray 4. This is for recording on the paper 5. Although details will be described later, since MICR printing is mainly intended for printing checks and bills, in the case of MICR printing, the recording paper 5 fed from the paper feed tray 4 is dedicated. It is paper.

  The controller 101 is a generic name for control mechanisms that convert print data into drawing data and output the drawing data to the printer engine 130, and includes the following modules. The controller 101 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 102 that controls the operation of the laser printer 100. The CPU 102 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) 103 for storing a program executed by the CPU 102 and necessary data, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 104 for configuring a work area of the CPU 102. 105 is connected. The RAM 104 is used as a buffer for managing print data in units of pages and temporarily storing it, a bitmap memory for converting the print data stored in the buffer into an actual print drawing image, and storing video data, and the like. .

  Further, a communication control unit 106, HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 107, engine control unit 108, NV-RAM 109, medium control unit 110 and UI control unit 111 are connected to the CPU 102 via the internal bus 105. Data exchange between these elements is mainly performed through the internal bus 105.

  The NV-RAM 109 is a non-volatile memory that stores information used for control by the CPU 102 regardless of power ON / OFF.

  The UI control unit 111 connects the operation panel 120 and exchanges data with a user interface displayed on the operation panel 120.

  The communication control unit 106 is an interface card incorporated to connect the laser printer 100 to a LAN (Local Area Network) cable, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) cable, or the like. For example, the communication control unit 106 connects a PC (Personal Computer) 200 which is an external device via a LAN cable, receives print data from the PC 200, transmits print result information to the PC 200, and the like. Perform the action.

  The HDD 29 is used for storing various print document information and storing other appropriate information files. In addition, the HDD 29 stores an OS (Operating System) and various application programs running on the OS. In the present embodiment, a print processing program or the like is stored as an application program.

  The engine control unit 108 is an interface that transmits a control signal from the CPU 102 to the printer engine 130 and receives an engine status signal from the printer engine 130 to the CPU 102.

  The medium control unit 110 indicates an interface or an insertion slot for a non-volatile storage medium 300 that is a removable external recording medium (for example, an SD card). When the storage medium 300 is inserted into this slot, it is possible to recognize whether or not the storage medium 300 is inserted from a change in voltage or the like (hot-line insertion / extraction).

  The laser printer 100 having such a configuration reads an OS from the HDD 29 into the RAM 104 when the user turns on the power, and starts the OS. The OS activated in this way activates an application program, reads information, and stores information in response to a user operation. In addition, the application program is not limited to one that runs on a predetermined OS, but may be one that causes the OS to execute a part of various processes described later, or constitutes a predetermined application program or OS. It may be included as part of a group of program files.

  In general, an application program installed in the HDD 29 of the laser printer 100 is recorded in the storage medium 300, and the application program recorded in the storage medium 300 is installed in the HDD 29. Therefore, the storage medium 300 can also be a storage medium that stores application programs. Furthermore, the application program may be imported from the outside via a network and installed in the HDD 29, for example.

  The laser printer 100 according to the present embodiment includes the HDD 29. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and an application program, an OS, and the like are stored in a computer-readable recording medium such as a semiconductor memory. Also good.

  With this configuration, when the controller 101 of the laser printer 100 receives a print command from the PC 200 via the communication control unit 106 according to the print processing program, it issues a print start command to the printer engine 130 via the engine control unit 108. Output. By repeating such an operation, the print data from the PC 200 is actually printed through the printer engine 130.

  A printing operation in the printer engine 130 will be described along the flow of the recording paper 5. First, the recording paper 5 stored in the paper feed tray 4 is picked up one by one by the pickup roller 6 and conveyed toward the photoconductor 11. The photosensitive member 11 is driven to rotate in the clockwise direction. At this time, the surface is charged by the charging roller 12, and a laser beam is irradiated from the writing unit 3 to form an electrostatic latent image of the input image. The electrostatic latent image is visualized by toner when the photosensitive member 11 rotates and passes through the developing unit 14. The visible image on the photoconductor 11 is transferred by the transfer roller 7 to the recording paper 5 conveyed to the photoconductor 11 portion. Thereafter, the image is conveyed to the fixing roller 8, and the visible image on the recording paper 5 is fixed by thermocompression and discharged outside the laser printer 100.

  Incidentally, as shown in FIG. 3, the process cartridge 2 is provided with a connector 21 having an IC chip 30 (see FIG. 3). When the process cartridge 2 is mounted in the main body 1 of the laser printer 100, the connector 21 is connected to a printer-side connector (not shown), and the IC chip 30 is connected to the controller 101 of the laser printer 100. As a result, the controller 101 of the laser printer 100 exchanges various data stored in the IC chip 30 of the process cartridge 2 to perform image formation control.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the IC chip 30 mounted on the connector 21. As shown in FIG. 4, the IC chip 30 controls the CPU 31 that is the main body of control on the substrate, the I / O port 32 that conforms to ISO 7816, and the inside of the IC chip 30 through an interface that communicates with the laser printer 100. A non-volatile memory for storing cartridge information necessary for controlling the process cartridge 2, a system 34 for controlling the process cartridge 2, a ROM 34 for storing a processing program for the IC chip 30, a RAM 35 for working memory for executing the processing program A certain EEPROM 36 and an E-EEPROM 37 which is a non-volatile memory for storing a dedicated command to be written into the EEPROM 36 are provided, and these components are connected by a signal line 38. When the process cartridge 2 is mounted in the main body 1 of the laser printer 100 and the power is turned on, the bias power source 39 is supplied from the laser printer 100 side via the I / O port 32 and the IC chip 30 is operated. .

  The cartridge information necessary for controlling the process cartridge 2 stored in the EEPROM 36 includes, for example, an image forming condition such as an identification number, exposure amount, charge amount, development bias, cartridge lot, date of manufacture, type, and date of use. The date, the number of copies, the number of times of recycling, the upper limit number of times of recycling, the replacement timing of process cartridge components, the toner lot, the filling amount, the storage period, and the like.

  Here, the type which is one of the information necessary for controlling the process cartridge 2 stored in the EEPROM 36 will be described. The type of the process cartridge 2 in the present embodiment is “normal cartridge” or “MICR cartridge”. These differences are the toners stored in the toner storage unit 14a. MICR is an abbreviation for Magnetic Ink Character Recognition, which uses a magnetic toner to print a specially-shaped font called MICR font on a check or the like, and the MICR character printed on the check is called an MICR reader sorter. This is a mechanism that performs processing such as reading and sorting. That is, the magnetic toner is stored in the toner storage portion 14a of the process cartridge 2 that is the “MICR cartridge”. On the other hand, general toner is stored in the toner storage portion 14a of the process cartridge 2 which is a “normal cartridge”.

  Next, characteristic functions that are exhibited when the CPU 102 of the laser printer 100 according to the present embodiment operates in accordance with the print processing program will be described.

  FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram schematically showing a functional configuration relating to image forming processing of the controller 101 of the laser printer 100. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the controller 101 of the laser printer 100 includes a cartridge determination unit 51 that functions as a cartridge determination unit, a determination unit 52, a print job reception unit 53, and the like. A print job determination unit 54 that functions as a print job determination unit and an authentication unit, a job printing unit 55, a UI (User Interface) unit 56, and a tray lock unit 60 that functions as a tray lock unit are provided.

  The tray lock unit 60 exhibits a tray lock function that allows a tray lock to be applied so that paper is not fed from a specific paper feed tray 4 when automatic paper is selected or limitless paper is fed. is there. The limitless paper feed function is such that when the recording paper 5 in the paper feed tray 4 selected during the image forming process runs out, the paper feed trays 4 other than the paper feed tray 4 out of which the recording paper 5 has run out. This is a function for automatically switching to paper feeding.

  More specifically, the laser printer 100 can set the paper type of the recording paper 5 for all of the paper feed trays 4 by key operation on the operation panel 120. The two options are plain paper and special paper (special paper for MICR printing). By setting this setting to the paper type setting value of each of the plurality of paper feed trays 4, it is possible to determine the target of the tray search at the time of automatic paper selection and the target of the tray search at the time of limitless paper feed. it can. That is, the tray lock unit 60 can set whether to lock the tray for each paper feed tray 4 at the time of automatic paper selection or limitless paper feed. This is not included in the tray search target and the tray search target when limitless paper feeding is performed. As described above, the paper feed trays 4 for which the tray lock can be designated are all the paper feed trays 4 of the laser printer 100. When there are a plurality of paper feed trays 4 with the tray locked, the operation is the same as the search condition at the time of automatic tray selection. The priority is to search the priority paper feed tray 4 as the first search target, and thereafter, the search is performed in the order of the shortest conveyance path of the recording paper 5. The tray lock unit 60 outputs the paper feed tray 4 to which the tray lock is applied to the determination unit 52.

  In this embodiment, the setting whether to lock the tray for each paper feed tray 4 can be set by a key operation on the operation panel 120. However, the present invention is not limited to this. You may make it set by operation on the web browser of PC200.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, it is assumed that the tray lock is applied to the paper feed tray 4 in which special paper (special paper for MICR printing) is set as the paper type.

  The cartridge determination unit 51 receives cartridge information including the type (“normal cartridge” or “MICR cartridge”) of the mounted process cartridge 2 from the IC chip 30 of the process cartridge 2 mounted in the main body 1 of the laser printer 100. It is acquired and it is determined whether the type of the mounted process cartridge 2 is “normal cartridge” or “MICR cartridge”. The identification result of the process cartridge 2 is recorded in the NV-RAM 109, and the mounting state of the “normal cartridge” or the “MICR cartridge” can be confirmed on the user interface displayed on the operation panel 120. The cartridge determination unit 51 outputs the determined cartridge type to the determination unit 52.

  When the print job reception unit 53 receives a print job from the PC 200, the print job reception unit 53 outputs the received print job to the print job determination unit 54.

  The print job determination unit 54 determines the type of print job received from the print job reception unit 53. It should be noted that MICR information indicating that the print job for MICR is a print job for MICR is added in advance to the print job for MICR. In the case of a dedicated PC 200 that handles checks and bills, MICR information should always be added. Otherwise, the user explicitly specifies that it is MICR. For example, in the case of using a driver, there can be a configuration in which there is a check box for MICR printing on the driver screen and the check box is checked. The MICR information is, for example, a password for MICR, which is authentication information added to a predetermined position (for example, the top) of print data. For example, the MICR password may include a predetermined character string such as “MICRPW = ***”. The MICR password is determined for each laser printer 100 in advance, and authentication is performed by comparing the password of the laser printer 100 with the MICR password added to the print job. The MICR password may be changed by accessing the laser printer 100 from the operation panel 120 of the laser printer 100 or a Web browser.

  The print job determination unit 54 outputs the print job received from the print job reception unit 53 and the determined type of print job to the determination unit 52.

  The determination unit 52 includes the type of print job acquired from the print job determination unit 54, the password authentication result when the print job type is a print job for MICR, the cartridge type acquired from the cartridge determination unit 51, the tray Whether print processing is possible or not is determined according to whether or not the lock function is executed. If the determination unit 52 determines that printing is possible, the determination unit 52 outputs the print job determined to be printable to the job printing unit 55. The job printing unit 55 that has received the print job outputs a print start command to the printer engine 130 via the engine control unit 108.

  On the other hand, if the determination unit 52 determines that printing is not possible, the determination unit 52 instructs the UI unit 56 to display an alert screen that is a warning / confirmation screen that displays a warning, a confirmation, a warning message, or the like. The UI unit 56 outputs the response received via the alert screen to the determination unit 52. And the judgment part 52 performs the process according to the response received via the alert screen.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart schematically showing the flow of the printing process described above. As shown in FIG. 7, when a print job is received from the PC 200 (step S1), the type of the mounted process cartridge 2 (“normal” is selected from the IC chip 30 of the process cartridge 2 mounted in the main body 1 of the laser printer 100. Cartridge information including “cartridge” or “MICR cartridge”), the cartridge determination unit 51 determines that the type of the mounted process cartridge 2 is “MICR cartridge” (Yes in step S2), and print job If the print job determination unit 54 determines that the type of print job is a print job for MICR (Yes in step S3), the process proceeds to step S4.

  In step S4, the MICR password added to the MICR print job is authenticated. If the authentication that the MICR password added to the MICR print job is the password determined for the laser printer 100 passes (Yes in step S4), the process proceeds to step S5, and the authentication is completed. Print processing for the MCR job.

  On the other hand, when the cartridge determining unit 51 determines that the type of the mounted process cartridge 2 is “normal cartridge” (No in step S2), or the print job type is determined as a normal print job. If it is determined by the unit 54 (No in step S3), the process proceeds to step S6, and print processing for a job without authentication (normal job) is executed.

  Also, when authentication that the MICR password added to the MICR print job is the password determined by the laser printer 100 fails (No in step S4), the process proceeds to step S6. , Print processing for a job without authentication (normal job) is executed.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, there are three types of print jobs: a print job for MICR that has passed authentication, a print job for MICR that has not passed authentication, and a normal print job that has no authentication information that is not for MICR. Classify. Further, when the MICR process cartridge 2 is not mounted, even if there is authentication information, it is not regarded as a MICR print job. Although details will be described later, the operation of the printer is changed in accordance with each classified print job.

  Next, print processing for an authenticated MCR job will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, first, the determination unit 52 designates the paper feed tray 4 that feeds the recording paper 5 to be printed (Yes in step S11), and the designated paper feed tray 4 is designated. If the tray lock is applied (Yes in step S12), the paper feed tray 4 for appropriately feeding the special paper (special paper for MICR printing) is designated, so that the MCR that has been authenticated as it is. The print job is transferred to the job printing unit 55, fed from the designated paper feed tray 4, and executed by the printer engine 130 (step S13). Here, the function of the MICR printing means is executed.

  On the other hand, when the paper feed tray 4 that feeds the recording paper 5 to be printed is not designated (No in step S11), the determination unit 52 performs tray lock on the designated paper feed tray 4. If it is not hung (No in step S12), the paper feed tray 4 that is locked is searched (step S14: first search means, second search means). If there is a paper feed tray 4 that is locked (Yes in step S15), a print job for MCR that has been authenticated by specifying the paper feed tray 4 that is locked is designated as a job printing unit. 55, the paper is fed from the designated paper feed tray 4 and the printing process by the printer engine 130 is executed (step S16).

  If there is no paper feed tray 4 that is locked (No in step S15), the determination unit 52 displays an alert screen X as shown in FIG. 9 on the user interface displayed on the operation panel 120. Display is instructed to the UI unit 56, and processing corresponding to the selection operation of any of the buttons a, b, and c on the alert screen X is executed (step S17). When a selection operation for the “reset” button a is received, a process for resetting the print job is executed (first reset means). When a selection operation for the “accumulate” button b is accepted, a process of temporarily accumulating the print job in the HDD 29 or the like is executed (first accumulation means). In this case, on the condition that the tray lock is applied to the paper feed tray 4, the accumulated print job can be read and the printing process can be executed again. When the selection operation for the “forced printing” button c is accepted, the printing process is executed as it is. That is, in this case, for the purpose of trial printing or the like, a process of feeding and printing from the paper feed tray 4 that is not locked is executed.

  Next, a printing process for an unauthenticated job (normal job) will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. As shown in FIG. 10, first, the determination unit 52 designates the paper feed tray 4 that feeds the recording paper 5 to be printed (Yes in step S21), and the designated paper feed tray 4 is designated. If the tray lock is not applied (No in step S22), since the paper feed tray 4 for properly feeding plain paper is designated, a job without authentication (normal job) is directly processed by the job printing unit. 55, the paper is fed from the designated paper feed tray 4 and the printing process by the printer engine 130 is executed (step S23).

  On the other hand, the determination unit 52 designates the paper feed tray 4 that feeds the recording paper 5 to be printed (Yes in step S21), and the designated paper feed tray 4 is locked. If so (Yes in step S22), an inappropriate paper feed tray 4 has been designated, so the designation of the paper feed tray 4 is canceled (step S24), and the paper feed tray 4 to which the tray lock is not applied is removed. Search (step S25: third search means). Note that, even when the paper feed tray 4 for feeding the recording paper 5 to be printed is not designated (No in step S21), the determination unit 52 selects the paper feed tray 4 that is not locked. Search is performed (step S25). If there is a paper feed tray 4 that is not locked (Yes in step S26), a job (normal job) without authentication is designated by specifying the paper feed tray 4 that is not locked. 55, the paper is fed from the designated paper feed tray 4, and the printing process by the printer engine 130 is executed (step S27). Here, the function of the normal printing means is executed.

  When there is no paper feed tray 4 that is not locked (No in step S26), the determination unit 52 displays an alert screen Y as shown in FIG. 11 on the user interface displayed on the operation panel 120. The display is instructed to the UI unit 56, and processing corresponding to the selection operation of any of the buttons d, e, and f on the alert screen Y is executed (step S28). When a selection operation for the “reset” button d is accepted, a process for resetting the print job is executed (second reset means, third reset means). When a selection operation for the “accumulate” button e is accepted, a process of temporarily accumulating the print job in the HDD 29 or the like is executed (second accumulation unit, third accumulation unit). In this case, on the condition that the tray lock is released for the paper feed tray 4, the accumulated print job can be read and the printing process can be executed again. When the selection operation for the “forced printing” button f is received, the printing process is executed as it is. That is, in this case, a process for feeding and printing special paper (special paper for MICR printing) from the paper feed tray 4 to which the tray lock is applied is executed.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is determined that the type of the process cartridge 2 is the MICR cartridge used for MICR, and the type of the print job is for MICR with the MICR password added. If it is determined that the job is a print job, password authentication is performed using the MICR password. Then, when authenticated, paper is fed from the paper feed tray 4 that is not to be fed at the time of automatic paper selection, and image forming processing is executed according to the MICR print job. As a result, even if there is no designation of the MICR paper feed tray 4 from the user, the paper feed trays that are excluded from paper feed when automatic paper selection is applied by applying the existing tray lock function can be special paper (MICR). Since it is determined that the paper feed tray 4 stores the paper dedicated for printing), if the special paper (special paper for MICR printing) is stored in the paper feed tray 4 for which the tray lock function is set in advance, the user However, the MICR paper feed tray 4 can be specified without explicitly specifying the MICR paper feed tray 4 in which special paper (special paper for MICR printing) is stored.

  In this embodiment, the laser printer 100 including the process cartridge 2 and the printer engine 130 for forming an image by the electrophotographic process method is applied. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a printer including an ink cartridge containing magnetic ink and a printer engine that forms an image by an ink jet method using the ink cartridge can be applied.

It is a central section sectional view showing the internal structure of the laser printer concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows an example of a structure of a controller. It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance of a process cartridge. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of IC chip. It is a schematic diagram which shows roughly the function structure concerning an image formation process. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a tray lock setting of a paper feed tray. 3 is a flowchart schematically showing a flow of printing processing. 6 is a flowchart schematically showing a flow of printing processing for an authenticated MCR job. It is a front view which shows an example of an alert screen. 6 is a flowchart schematically showing a flow of print processing for a job without authentication (normal job). It is a front view which shows an example of an alert screen.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body 2 Cartridge 4 Paper feed tray 51 Cartridge judgment means 54 Print job judgment means, authentication means 60 Tray lock means 100 Image forming apparatus 200 External apparatus

Claims (12)

Print job determination means for determining the type of print job received from the external device;
A main body for detachably holding a cartridge used for image formation;
Cartridge determining means for determining the type of the cartridge held in the main body;
When the cartridge determination unit determines that the cartridge type is a MICR cartridge used for MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition), the print job determination unit adds authentication information to the print job type. Authentication means for performing password authentication using the authentication information when it is determined that the print job is for a MICR print job,
A tray lock means for setting the paper feed tray to be excluded from paper feed at the time of automatic paper selection for automatically selecting a paper feed tray for feeding recording paper;
A MICR printing unit that, when authenticated by the authentication unit, feeds paper from the paper feed tray that has not been fed by the tray lock unit and executes an image forming process according to the MICR print job;
When the authentication unit authenticates and the MICR print job does not specify the paper feed tray, a second search for searching for the paper feed tray not to be fed Means,
Equipped with a,
The MICR printing unit feeds paper from the paper feed tray that has been excluded from the paper feed searched by the second search unit, and executes image forming processing according to the MICR print job.
An image forming apparatus. If the paper feed tray is designated in the MICR print job when authenticated by the authentication means, the designated paper feed tray is excluded from being fed by the tray lock means. If not, a first search means for searching for the paper feed tray that is not a paper feed target is provided,
The MICR printing unit feeds paper from the paper feed tray that is not to be fed by the first search unit, and executes image forming processing according to the MICR print job.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. This is a case where the authentication unit does not authenticate, and the MICR print job includes designation of the paper feed tray, and the designated paper feed tray is excluded from being fed by the tray lock unit. A third search means for canceling the designation of the paper feed tray and searching for the paper feed tray that is not excluded from paper feed;
A normal printing unit that feeds paper from the paper feed tray that is not excluded from the paper feed searched by the third search unit, and executes image forming processing in accordance with the MICR print job;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: If the authentication means authenticates, and there is no paper feed tray that is not subject to paper feed by the tray lock means, the MICR print job is temporarily stored in the storage unit. First storage means for executing processing to be performed,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. The MICR printing unit reads the MICR print job stored in the storage unit by the first storage unit on the condition that the paper feed tray is excluded from the paper feed target by the tray lock unit, and supplies the MICR print job. The paper is fed from the paper feed tray that is not the paper target, and the image forming process is executed according to the MICR print job.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 4 . If the authentication means authenticates, and there is no paper feed tray that is not subject to paper feed by the tray lock means, a process of resetting the MICR print job is executed. 1 with reset means,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 . When the print job determination unit determines that the type of the print job is a normal print job to which no authentication information is added, the paper supply that is excluded from paper feed by the tray lock unit. A second accumulator that executes a process of temporarily accumulating the normal print job in a storage unit when only a paper tray exists;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. When the print job determination unit determines that the type of the print job is a normal print job to which no authentication information is added, the paper supply that is excluded from paper feed by the tray lock unit. A second reset unit configured to execute a process of resetting the normal print job when only the paper tray exists.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. If the authentication unit does not authenticate, there is no designation of the paper feed tray in the MICR print job, and there is only the paper feed tray that is not subject to paper feed by the tray lock unit. A third accumulating unit for executing a process of temporarily accumulating the MICR print job in a storage unit.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. If the authentication unit does not authenticate, there is no designation of the paper feed tray in the MICR print job, and there is only the paper feed tray that is not subject to paper feed by the tray lock unit. A third reset unit configured to execute a process of resetting the MICR print job.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. Computer
Print job determination means for determining the type of print job received from the external device;
Cartridge determining means for determining the type of the cartridge held in the main body for detachably holding the cartridge used for image formation;
When the cartridge determination unit determines that the cartridge type is a MICR cartridge used for MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition), the print job determination unit adds authentication information to the print job type. Authentication means for performing password authentication using the authentication information when it is determined that the print job is for a MICR print job,
A tray lock means for setting the paper feed tray to be excluded from paper feed at the time of automatic paper selection for automatically selecting a paper feed tray for feeding recording paper;
A MICR printing unit that, when authenticated by the authentication unit, feeds paper from the paper feed tray that has not been fed by the tray lock unit and executes an image forming process according to the MICR print job;
When the authentication unit authenticates and the MICR print job does not specify the paper feed tray, a second search for searching for the paper feed tray not to be fed Means,
To function as,
The MICR printing unit feeds paper from the paper feed tray that has been excluded from the paper feed searched by the second search unit, and executes image forming processing according to the MICR print job.
A program characterized by that. A step in which the print job determining means determines the type of the print job received from the external device;
A step of determining a type of the cartridge held in a main body that detachably holds a cartridge used for image formation;
When the authentication unit determines that the cartridge type is a MICR cartridge used for MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition) by the cartridge determination unit, the print job determination unit determines that the type of the print job is Performing password authentication using the authentication information when it is determined that the print job is for MICR to which authentication information is added;
A step of setting the paper feed tray to be excluded from paper feed when automatic paper selection for automatically selecting a paper feed tray for feeding recording paper by a tray lock means;
When the MICR printing unit is authenticated by the authenticating unit, the sheet is fed from the sheet feeding tray which is not the sheet feeding target by the tray locking unit, and the image forming process is executed according to the MICR print job. Steps,
When the second search means is authenticated by the authentication means, and the paper feed tray is not specified in the MICR print job, the paper feed tray that is not subject to paper feed Searching for
Only including,
The MICR printing unit feeds paper from the paper feed tray that has been excluded from the paper feed searched by the second search unit, and executes image forming processing according to the MICR print job.
An image forming method.

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