JP5321443B2 - Image forming system and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus for forming an image adjustment mark and an image forming system including a plurality of image forming apparatuses.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, image adjustment is performed in an image forming apparatus so that there is no deviation in image position and density. As the image adjustment procedure, for example, a resist pattern, which is an image pattern for image adjustment, is formed for each color, and the deviation amount (correction amount) between the basic color resist pattern and the test color resist pattern is acquired. Based on the correction amount, the positional deviation of the test color image is corrected.

  Further, it is known that it takes a long time to acquire a correction amount for image adjustment, resulting in a decrease in printing efficiency. Therefore, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for shortening the copy time by interrupting the correction amount acquisition process.

JP 2001-013753 A

  However, the conventional image forming apparatus described above has the following problems. That is, the correction amount acquisition timing is determined by the convenience of the apparatus itself, such as the elapsed time from the previous acquisition and the number of printed sheets. That is, the operation status of other image forming apparatuses is not reflected in the determination of the correction amount acquisition timing. Therefore, in an image forming system constituted by a plurality of image forming apparatuses, for example, there is a possibility that a high-quality image cannot be obtained only with the image forming apparatus immediately before acquisition.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems of the prior art. That is, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus and an image forming system that can form a suitable state after grasping the image quality state of another image forming apparatus.

  In order to solve this problem, an image forming system forms a mark for detecting at least one of a positional shift and a density shift, and executes an acquisition process for acquiring a correction amount by measuring the mark. An image forming system including a plurality of image forming apparatuses, a confirmation unit for confirming an image quality state of an image forming apparatus belonging to the image forming system, and an image quality state of the image forming apparatus confirmed by the confirmation unit And determining means for determining whether or not the acquisition processing of the image forming apparatus is necessary.

  The image forming system of the present invention confirms the image quality state of an image forming apparatus belonging to the image forming system. Then, it is determined whether or not the acquisition process is necessary based on the confirmation result. Here, the “image quality state” can be determined from, for example, the elapsed time since the last acquisition process, the remaining amount of toner, the number of printed sheets, and the like. Note that the image forming apparatuses to be confirmed are not necessarily all image forming apparatuses belonging to the image forming system. For example, the image forming apparatuses may be limited to a predetermined image forming apparatus or a printable image forming apparatus. Good.

  That is, in the image forming system of the present invention, whether or not the acquisition process of each image forming apparatus is necessary is determined according to the image quality state of the other image forming apparatuses. Therefore, for example, it is possible to avoid a situation where only a low-quality image forming apparatus is used or a situation where the image quality is maintained higher than necessary.

  Further, the determining means of the image forming system of the present invention is based on the confirmation result of the confirming means, and when the number of image forming apparatuses whose image quality state is higher than the reference is less than the threshold, the image quality state is lower than the reference. It may be determined that the acquisition process needs to be executed for at least one of the low image forming apparatuses. According to this configuration, when the image quality state is higher than the reference, that is, when the number of image forming apparatuses in the high image quality state is small, the number of image forming apparatuses in the high image quality state increases. Therefore, it is possible to avoid a state in which the image quality is low regardless of which image forming apparatus is used. The “number” of image forming apparatuses whose image quality state is higher than the standard may be the number or the ratio.

  Also, the confirmation means of the image forming system according to the present invention confirms at least the image quality state of the image forming apparatus in the printable state when the image forming apparatus whose image quality state is higher than the standard becomes unprintable. The determination unit may determine at least one of the image forming apparatuses in a printable state as an execution target of the acquisition process upon confirmation by the confirmation unit. When an image forming apparatus that has played a role of high image quality becomes unavailable, it is desirable to change its role to another image forming apparatus at an early stage.

  In addition, the image forming system of the present invention may include an informing unit for informing the image quality state of the image forming apparatus. In the image forming system of the present invention, the image quality state is automatically changed. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a mechanism that allows the user to grasp the image quality state. The notification destination may be an operation panel of the image forming apparatus or a user information processing terminal. The notification may be executed every time the acquisition process is executed or may be a user command.

  The present invention also provides an acquisition means for executing an acquisition process for acquiring a correction amount by forming a mark for detecting at least one of a positional deviation and a density deviation, and measuring the mark, and another image. Confirmation means for confirming the image quality state of the forming apparatus, and determination means for determining whether or not to execute the acquisition process of the own apparatus based on the image quality state of another image forming apparatus confirmed by the confirmation means. An image forming apparatus characterized by the above is included.

  In addition, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention has a notification unit that outputs a completion notification to another image forming apparatus when the acquisition process is completed, and printing in a state where the image quality state is higher than the reference is not possible. In addition, a request unit that outputs an execution request for acquisition processing to another image forming apparatus, and a standby in which a length different from that of the other image forming apparatus is set when the execution request is received from the other image forming apparatus. A determination means for determining whether or not a completion notification has been received from another image forming apparatus at the end of the standby time, and the confirmation means does not receive the completion notification. When the determination is made, the image quality state of the other image forming apparatus is confirmed, and the determination unit may determine whether or not to execute the acquisition process in response to the confirmation by the confirmation unit. When each image forming apparatus has a server function like the image forming apparatus of the present invention, it is conceivable that each image forming apparatus examines whether or not it is necessary to execute in parallel and the execution of the acquisition process is duplicated. Thus, by providing a standby time different from that of other image forming apparatuses as in this configuration, it is possible to avoid parallel execution of acquisition processing.

  According to the present invention, an image forming apparatus and an image forming system capable of forming a suitable state after capturing the image quality state of another image forming apparatus are realized.

1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming system according to a first embodiment. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of an MFP and a server included in the image forming system. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming unit of the MFP. FIG. FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing an arrangement of mark sensors according to the MFP shown in FIG. 3. 6 is a flowchart showing a procedure of MFP acquisition execution processing according to the first embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the acquisition management process of a server concerning a 1st form. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the image forming system concerning a 2nd form. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of MFP acquisition execution processing according to a second embodiment.

  DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments embodying an image forming apparatus and an image forming system according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to an image forming system including a plurality of MFPs (Multi Function Peripherals) having a color printing function.

[First embodiment]
[Overall configuration of image forming system]
As shown in FIG. 1, an image forming system 500 according to the first embodiment includes MFPs (examples of image forming apparatuses) 100, 101, 102, 103 having a color printing function, and MFPs 100, 101 belonging to the image forming system 500. , 102, 103. In the image forming system 500, MFPs 100, 101, 102, 103 and the server 200 are connected to the network 400.

  Note that any number of image forming apparatuses (not limited to MFPs, which may be printers, copiers, etc.) belonging to the image forming system 500 may be used. Further, another information processing apparatus (for example, a personal computer) may be connected to the network 400. The image forming system 500 is also connected to other image forming systems 501 and 502 via a network such as the Internet.

[Electrical configuration of image forming system]
[MFP configuration]
Next, a schematic configuration of MFP 100 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the MFP 100 includes a control unit 30 including a CPU 31, a ROM 32, a RAM 33, an NVRAM (nonvolatile RAM) 34, an ASIC 35, a network interface 36, and a FAX interface 37. . The control unit 30 is electrically connected to an image forming unit 10 that forms an image on a sheet, an image reading unit 20 that reads an image of a document, and an operation panel 40 that displays an operation status and accepts an input operation by a user. ing. The MFPs 101, 102, and 103 have the same configuration.

  The ROM 32 stores various control programs for controlling the MFP 100, various settings, initial values, and the like. The RAM 33 is used as a work area from which various control programs are read or as a storage area for temporarily storing image data.

  The CPU 31 controls each component of the MFP 100 via the ASIC 35 while storing the processing results in the RAM 33 or the NVRAM 34 according to the control program read from the ROM 32 and signals sent from various sensors.

  The network interface 36 is connected to the network 400 and enables connection with the server 200 and the like. The FAX interface 37 is connected to a telephone line and enables connection with a destination FAX apparatus. Data can be exchanged with an external device via the network interface 36 or the FAX interface 37.

[Server configuration]
Next, a schematic configuration of the server 200 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the server 200 includes a CPU 51, a ROM 52, a RAM 53, an HDD 54, an operation unit 55 including a keyboard and a mouse, a display unit 56 including a liquid crystal display, and a network interface 58. doing.

  The HDD 54 of the server 200 incorporates an operating system (OS), device drivers for controlling various devices, application programs, and the like. In particular, the server 200 incorporates a management program for managing the MFPs 100, 101, 102, and 103 belonging to the image forming system 500.

[Configuration of MFP Image Forming Unit]
Next, the configuration of the image forming unit 10 of the MFP 100 will be described with reference to FIG. The image forming units of the other MFPs 101, 102, and 103 have the same configuration as that of the MFP 100.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the image forming unit 10 forms a toner image by electrophotography, transfers the toner image to a sheet, and a fixing device 8 that fixes unfixed toner on the sheet. , A paper feed tray 91 on which paper before image transfer is placed, and a paper discharge tray 92 on which paper after image transfer is placed. An image reading unit 20 is disposed above the image forming unit 10.

  In the image forming unit 10, the paper stored in the paper feed tray 91 located at the bottom passes through the paper feed roller 71, the registration roller 72, the process unit 50, and the fixing device 8, and passes through the paper discharge roller 76. A substantially S-shaped transport path 11 (a chain line in FIG. 3) is provided so as to be guided to the upper discharge tray 92.

  The process unit 50 can form a color image, and process units corresponding to the respective colors of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) are arranged in parallel. Specifically, a process unit 50Y that forms a Y-color image, a process unit 50M that forms an M-color image, a process unit 50C that forms a C-color image, and a process unit that forms a K-color image 50K. The process units 50Y, 50M, 50C, and 50K are arranged at a certain distance from each other in the paper transport direction.

  In the process unit 50, the surface of the photoreceptor is uniformly charged by the charging device. Thereafter, exposure is performed with light from the exposure device 53, and an electrostatic latent image of an image to be formed on the paper is formed. Next, toner is supplied to the photoreceptor via the developing device. As a result, the electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor is visualized as a toner image.

  In addition, the image forming unit 10 includes an exposure device 53 that irradiates each process unit 50Y, 50M, 50C, and 50K with light, and a conveyance belt 7 that conveys a sheet to the transfer position of each process unit 50Y, 50M, 50C, and 50K. , And a mark sensor 61 for detecting a resist pattern formed on the conveyor belt 7.

  The conveyor belt 7 is an endless belt member stretched by the conveyor rollers 73 and 74 and is made of a resin material such as polycarbonate. The conveyance belt 7 circulates and moves counterclockwise as the conveyance roller 74 is driven to rotate. Thus, the sheet placed on the upper surface is conveyed from the registration roller 72 side to the fixing device 8 side.

  The image forming unit 10 takes out the sheets placed on the sheet feeding tray 91 one by one and conveys the sheets onto the conveyance belt 7. Then, the toner image formed by the process unit 50 is transferred to the paper. At this time, in color printing, toner images are formed by the process units 50Y, 50M, 50C, and 50K, and the toner images are superimposed on the paper. On the other hand, in monochrome printing, a toner image is formed only by the process unit 50K and transferred to a sheet. Thereafter, the sheet on which the toner image is transferred is conveyed to the fixing device 8 and the toner image is thermally fixed on the sheet. Then, the sheet after fixing is discharged to a paper discharge tray 92.

  The mark sensor 61 is positioned downstream of the process units 50Y, 50M, 50C, and 50K and upstream of the fixing device 8 in the paper transport direction, and detects a resist pattern formed on the transport belt 7. .

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the mark sensor 61 includes two sensors, a sensor 61R disposed on the right side in the width direction of the conveyor belt 7 and a sensor 61L disposed on the left side. Each of the sensors 61R and 61L is a reflective optical sensor in which a light emitting element 62 (for example, an LED) and a light receiving element 63 (for example, a phototransistor) are paired. The mark sensor 61 is configured such that the light emitting element 62 emits light from the oblique direction to the surface of the conveying belt 7 (dotted line frame E in FIG. 4), and the light receiving element 63 receives the light. The passage of the resist pattern can be detected based on the difference between the amount of light received when the resist pattern 66 passes and the amount of light received directly from the conveyor belt 7.

[Position correction]
Next, the positional deviation correction in the MFP 100 will be briefly described. The misregistration correction is a correction for adjusting the position of each color image, and is divided into an acquisition process for acquiring a misregistration amount of each color with respect to a reference color and a correction process for correcting an image based on the misregistration amount. In this specification, the acquisition process will be described, and the correction process will be omitted.

  In the acquisition process, first, a resist pattern, which is an image pattern for correcting misalignment, is formed by each of the process units 50Y, 50M, 50C, and 50K. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the resist pattern includes a mark 66K formed by the process unit 50K, a mark 66Y formed by the process unit 50Y, a mark 66M formed by the process unit 50M, and a process unit. The mark 66C formed by 50C is composed of a mark group (hereinafter referred to as “resist pattern 66”) arranged in the sub-scanning direction.

  The resist patterns 66 are formed at regular intervals in the sub-scanning direction (moving direction of the conveyor belt 7 shown in FIG. 4). Each of the marks 66K, 66Y, 66M, and 66C in the present embodiment has a rectangular bar shape, and is arranged along the main scanning direction (direction orthogonal to the sub-scanning direction).

  Next, based on the binarized signal output from the mark sensor 61, the positions of the marks 66K, 66Y, 66M, and 66C are detected. Then, the intervals in the sub-scanning direction of the respective adjustment color marks (for example, marks 66Y, 66M, 66C) with respect to the reference color mark (for example, mark 66K) are calculated. The interval between the marks of the reference color and the adjustment color changes due to a positional shift in the sub-scanning direction. Therefore, it is possible to specify the amount of positional deviation in the sub-scanning direction of the adjustment color with respect to the reference color.

  Note that the configuration of the resist pattern 66 described above is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to this. The mark formed on the conveyance belt 7 may be a general image pattern used for positional deviation correction and density correction.

[Management operation of acquisition processing of image forming system]
Subsequently, the management operation of the acquisition processing of each MFP in the image forming system 500 will be described.

  The MFP updates the correction value by executing the above-described acquisition process, and can expect the highest image quality immediately after the update, and the reliability of the correction value decreases with the passage of time or the like. Therefore, it is desirable to frequently perform acquisition processing in order to maintain high image quality. However, in the acquisition process, as described above, it is necessary to form a plurality of marks and detect the marks, and printing cannot be performed for a certain period of time. Also, the toner used for forming the mark is wasted. For this reason, it is not preferable to frequently execute the acquisition process.

  Therefore, in the image forming system 500 of this embodiment, the server 200 confirms the image quality state of the MFPs 100, 101, 102, and 103, and determines an MFP that maintains high image quality (hereinafter referred to as “high image quality designation MFP”). By requesting the determined MFP to execute the acquisition process, the timing for executing the acquisition process of each MFP 100, 101, 102, 103 is managed.

  In the following, a process for realizing the above-described acquisition process execution management operation in the image forming system 500 will be described by dividing it into an MFP side process (acquisition execution process) and a server side process (acquisition management process).

[Acquisition execution processing (MFP side)]
First, acquisition execution processing (an example of notification means) that is processing of each of the MFPs 100, 101, 102, and 103 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. This acquisition execution process is periodically executed at a predetermined time interval (for example, 1 minute).

  First, it is determined whether or not the execution of high-quality printing is detected (S101). An example of a state in which high-quality printing is disabled is that the image quality state of the own apparatus has changed from high-quality to non-high-quality. The image quality state can be determined based on the elapsed time from the immediately preceding acquisition process of the apparatus, the toner remaining amount, and the like. The type of image quality state will be described later. In addition, a failure such as a paper jam or a state where the acquisition process cannot be executed due to a lack of toner is also applicable. When it is detected that high-quality printing cannot be performed (S101: YES), an impossibility notification notifying that high-quality printing cannot be performed is transmitted to the server 200 (S111), and this process is terminated. In this case, the server 200 does not send the notification of inability to the server 200, and instead of the acquisition management processing S202, 203 in the server 200, which will be described later, the server 200 inquires of the high image quality designation MFP whether or not execution of high image quality printing is impossible. In response to the inquiry, each MFP may respond whether or not high-quality printing can be executed.

  If the inexecutability is not detected (S101: NO), it is determined whether or not an acquisition process execution request is received from the server 200 (S103). If an execution request has not been received (S103: NO), this process ends.

  On the other hand, if an execution request has been received (S103: YES), execution of the acquisition process is started (S121). After execution of the acquisition process is completed, a message indicating that the acquisition process has been performed is notified (S122). The notification destination of the message may be, for example, the operation panel 40 of the MFP or an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer belonging to the image forming system 500. That is, in S121, since the acquisition process is automatically executed, a notification is given so that the user can grasp the execution of the acquisition process. After the notification of the message, this process ends.

[Acquisition management processing (server side)]
Next, as a process of the server 200, an execution management process (an example of a confirmation unit and a determination unit) that manages the execution timing of the acquisition process of the MFPs 100, 101, 102, and 103 belonging to the image forming system 500 is illustrated in the flowchart of FIG. This will be described with reference to FIG. This execution management process is periodically executed at a predetermined time interval (for example, 1 minute).

  First, it is determined whether or not a predetermined time (for example, 1 hour) has elapsed (S201). If the predetermined time has not yet elapsed (S201: NO), it is determined whether or not an impossibility notification has been received from the MFP belonging to the image forming system 500 (S202). Further, when the impossibility notification is received (S202: YES), it is determined whether or not the disapproval notification is from the high image quality designation MFP (S203). If the predetermined time has not elapsed (S201: NO) and no disability notification has been received from the high-quality designated MFP (S202: NO or S203: NO), this process ends. Instead of S202 and S203, the high image quality designation MFP is inquired as to whether or not high image quality printing can be executed, and when there is a response that execution of high image quality printing is impossible, the processing proceeds to S211 and later. Good.

  On the other hand, when a predetermined time has elapsed (S201: YES) or when an incapability notification is received from the high-quality designated MFP (S203: YES), the MFPs 100, 101, 102, 103 belonging to the image forming system 500 are inquired, The current image quality state of the MFP is acquired (S211).

Each MFP 100, 101, 102, 103 responds with one of the following three image quality states in response to an inquiry from the server 200.
(1) High image quality A state from when the acquisition process is executed until a predetermined time elapses.
(2) Non-high image quality Although it is possible to shift to high image quality, this is not the case at present. For example, a state in which a predetermined time has elapsed since the execution of the acquisition process and the acquisition process can be executed. Alternatively, the image quality was not possible before due to lack of toner, but the acquisition process could be executed because the toner was replenished.
(3) High image quality impossible Acquisition process cannot be executed due to lack of toner. Or it is not possible to print due to a failure.

  Each of the MFPs 100, 101, 102, and 103 responds with the remaining amount of toner and the corrected image quality coefficient together with the image quality state. The “corrected image quality coefficient” here is a coefficient that is initialized to 0 immediately after execution of the acquisition process and is added over time. That is, the smaller the correction image quality coefficient, the shorter the elapsed time from the execution of the immediately preceding acquisition process, and the higher the reliability of the correction value.

  Next, an image quality designation MFP is determined based on the information acquired in S211 (S212). Specifically, in S212, even if the number of high-quality MFPs (here, “number” is the “number of devices”), the “MFPs” of the MFPs operating in the MFPs registered in the image forming system 500 are displayed. If the ratio is equal to or less than the threshold value, the high image quality designation MFP is determined, and further, which MFP is designated as the high image quality designation MFP is determined according to the following conditions. First, if there is only one MFP whose image quality state is other than that in which high image quality is not possible and all the other MFPs are incapable of high image quality, an MFP other than that incapable of high image quality is determined as the high image quality designation MFP. On the other hand, when there are a plurality of MFPs whose image quality states are other than those in which high image quality is not possible, a number of MFPs equal to or greater than a threshold are randomly extracted from the MFPs, and the extracted MFPs are determined as high image quality designation MFPs.

  In S212, if a non-high-quality MFP is preferentially extracted, it is possible to avoid a long non-high-quality image of the MFP alone, and to expect a uniform image quality in the entire image forming system 500. Further, the same effect can be expected by removing the MFP (MFP stored in S214, which will be described later) that has been designated as the high image quality immediately before from the extraction target.

  After determining the high image quality designated MFP, an execution request for instructing execution of the acquisition process is transmitted to the high image quality designated MFP (S213). Thereafter, the MFP identification number determined as the high image quality designated MFP is stored (S214), and this process is terminated.

  As described above, in the image forming system 500 according to the first embodiment, the server 200 acquires the image quality state of each of the MFPs 100, 101, 102, and 103 belonging to the image forming system 500, and extracts an appropriate MFP from them. An execution request is transmitted to the MFP (high quality designated MFP). On the other hand, the MFP executes acquisition processing in response to the execution request. That is, the image forming system 500 determines whether or not to execute the acquisition process so that the number of high-quality MFPs is greater than the threshold value. As a result, a situation in which only an image forming apparatus other than a high image quality is provided is avoided.

  In the acquisition management process of the present embodiment, when an impossibility notification is received from the high image quality designated MFP, the processes in and after S211 are performed. However, the acquisition management process is not limited to the high image quality designated MFP, but from the MFPs belonging to the image forming system 500. If the notification is impossible, the processing after S211 may be performed.

  In this embodiment, when determining the high image quality designated MFP, only the image quality state is used among the information acquired in S211. However, other information may also be used for determination. For example, the high image quality designation MFP may be determined according to the following conditions. First, if there is only one MFP whose image quality state is other than that in which high image quality is not possible and all the other MFPs are incapable of high image quality, an MFP other than that incapable of high image quality is determined as the high image quality designation MFP. If there are a plurality of MFPs whose image quality status is other than high image quality impossible, the MFP having the largest amount of toner among them is determined as the high image quality designation MFP. Further, when there are a plurality of MFPs with the largest remaining amount of toner (for example, when there are a plurality of MFPs in a toner full state), the MFP having the largest corrected image quality coefficient is determined as the high image quality designation MFP. These are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to these conditions.

  Further, the number determined as the high image quality designated MFP may be variable according to the number of MFPs belonging to the image forming system 500. However, if the number is too large, the number of MFPs that temporarily cannot be printed increases, and the waste of toner increases. Therefore, it is desirable to determine the number of MFPs to be determined as the high image quality designation MFP based on the number of MFPs belonging to the image forming system 500 and the remaining amount of toner.

[Second form]
Subsequently, the second embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 7, the image forming system 600 of this embodiment includes MFPs 700, 701, 702, and 703, and the MFPs 700, 701, 702, and 703 are communicably connected to each other. On the other hand, the server 200 as in the first embodiment is not provided. In this embodiment, each MFP confirms the image quality state of the other MFP and determines whether or not the acquisition process of its own apparatus is necessary.

  FIG. 8 shows a procedure of acquisition execution processing performed by each MFP 700, 701, 702, 703 of the present embodiment. The acquisition execution process of this embodiment is also periodically executed at a predetermined time interval (for example, 1 minute).

  First, it is determined whether an acquisition processing execution request has been received (S301). Each MFP transmits an execution request when the self-apparatus becomes unprintable or the image quality state deteriorates from high image quality to non-high image quality (S321 described later). Therefore, in S301, it is determined whether or not an execution request output from another MFP has been received.

  If an execution request has not been received (S301: NO), it is determined whether a predetermined time has elapsed (S311). The MFP has a timer for measuring the elapsed time, and turns on the flag when a predetermined time has elapsed. When the flag turns on from off, the timer that measures the elapsed time is reset. In S311, it is determined whether the flag is on or off. If the flag is on, the flag is turned off. That is, S311 is periodically established while energization is continued. If the predetermined time has elapsed (S311: YES), the process proceeds to S304, and it is determined whether or not the own apparatus can become a high image quality designation MFP. The processing after S304 will be described later.

  If the predetermined time has not elapsed (S311: NO), it is determined whether or not high-quality printing is disabled (S312). If the impossibility has not been detected (S312: NO), this process ends. On the other hand, when the impossibility is detected (S312: YES), an acquisition process execution request is transmitted to other MFPs belonging to the image forming system 600 (S321). After the execution request is transmitted, this process ends.

  On the other hand, if the own apparatus has received an execution request (S301: YES), it waits for a randomly selected time from 1 second to 300 seconds (S302). Since this waiting time varies depending on each MFP, the length of the waiting time differs for each MFP.

  After the standby time has elapsed, it is determined whether an acquisition process completion notification has been received from another MFP (S303). If a completion notification has been received (S303: YES), another MFP has already completed the acquisition process, and the MFP maintains high image quality. Therefore, it is not necessary for the device itself to have high image quality, and thus this processing is terminated.

  That is, in this acquisition management execution process, the execution start time of the acquisition process of each MFP is shifted by the standby time randomly created in S302. Thereby, it is avoided that the acquisition process is executed repeatedly.

  If the completion notification has not been received (S303: NO), this means that the standby time has passed earlier than other MFPs and the opportunity to become a high image quality designated MFP has been given. Therefore, an inquiry is made to other MFPs belonging to the image forming system 600, and the current image quality state of each MFP is acquired (S304). Information obtained from each MFP is the same as in the first embodiment.

  Next, based on the information obtained in S304 and the information of the own device, it is determined whether or not the own device can become a high image quality designated MFP (S305). In S305, for example, if the number of high-quality MFPs is equal to or less than the threshold value and the image quality state of the own apparatus is other than high image quality disabled, the own apparatus is determined as the high image quality designated MFP. Otherwise deny.

  When the self apparatus is determined as the high image quality designated MFP (S305: YES), execution of the acquisition process is started (S306). After the acquisition process is completed, a message indicating that the acquisition process has been performed is notified (S307). Further, a completion notification notifying completion of the acquisition process is transmitted to another MFP (S308). After the completion notice is transmitted or when the self apparatus is not determined as the high image quality designation MFP (S305: NO), this process is terminated.

  As described above, in the image forming system 600 according to the second embodiment, each MFP directly acquires the image quality state of another MFP, and determines whether or not to change the self apparatus to a high image quality designation MFP. That is, it is determined whether the acquisition process needs to be executed. As a result, a situation in which only an image forming apparatus other than a high image quality is provided is avoided.

  In this embodiment, when determining the high image quality designated MFP, only the image quality state is used in the information acquired in S304, but other information may also be used for determination. For example, it may be determined whether or not the MFP can be designated as high image quality under the following conditions. First, if the image quality state of the own apparatus is other than high image quality impossible and all the other MFPs are incapable of high image quality, the self apparatus is determined as the high image quality designated MFP. If the other MFP has no high image quality and non-high image quality, and the image quality status of its own device is non-high image quality, if its own device has the highest amount of toner, it specifies its own image quality. Determine the MFP. Further, when there is an MFP with the largest amount of remaining toner other than its own device (for example, when there are a plurality of MFPs that are full of toner), if its own corrected image quality coefficient is the largest, the own device is selected. The image quality is designated as the MFP. In other cases, another MFP is determined as the high image quality designation MFP. These are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to these conditions.

  In addition, after S308, it is stored that the self apparatus is the high image quality designated MPF, and in S312, it is detected that the self apparatus is the high image quality designated MPF and the high image quality printing is currently impossible. In step S321, the execution request may be transmitted to another MFP.

  Further, the acquisition management execution processing of this embodiment may not be executed as long as high-quality printing is impossible after detecting that high-quality printing is impossible in S312 and transmitting an execution request to another MFP in S321. .

  As described above in detail, in the image forming system 500 or 600, whether or not the acquisition processing of the image forming apparatus is necessary is determined according to the image quality state of the other image forming apparatus. Therefore, for example, it is possible to avoid a situation where only a low-quality image forming apparatus is used or a situation where the image quality is maintained higher than necessary.

  Note that this embodiment is merely an example, and does not limit the present invention. Therefore, the present invention can naturally be improved and modified in various ways without departing from the gist thereof. For example, the image forming apparatus is not limited to an MFP, and may be applied to any apparatus having a printing function such as a printer or a copier.

  In the embodiment, the present invention is applied to an MFP having a color printing function. However, the image forming apparatus is not limited to a color printing apparatus. For example, even a monochrome printing apparatus can be applied as long as it can form a mark for performing positional deviation correction, density correction, and the like.

  In the embodiment, the resist pattern 66 is constituted by one bar-shaped mark, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it may be composed of two pairs of rod-shaped marks, at least one of which is inclined by a predetermined angle with respect to a straight line along the main scanning direction. With such a resist pattern, it is possible to specify the amount of positional deviation in the main scanning direction in addition to the sub scanning direction.

  In the embodiment, the resist pattern for correcting the misregistration is described as a mark formed on the transport belt 7, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a density pattern for correcting density deviation may be used. When acquiring the density correction amount, several marks having color density differences are formed on the transport belt 7 and the reflected light amount is detected by a sensor common to the misregistration detection or another optical sensor. Then, the density is specified from the amount of reflected light, and the difference from the desired density is calculated.

  In the embodiment, the present invention is applied to an image forming apparatus that forms a mark on a paper conveying belt. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the present invention can be applied to an image forming apparatus having an intermediate transfer belt when a mark is formed on the intermediate transfer belt.

  In the embodiment, the image quality states of all the image forming apparatuses belonging to the image forming system 500 are acquired, but not all the image forming apparatuses are necessarily required. For example, the image quality state of a predetermined number of image forming apparatuses may be acquired to determine whether the acquisition process needs to be executed.

  In the first embodiment, in addition to the MFPs 100, 101, 102, and 103, a server 200 that manages each MFP is provided. However, any one of the MFPs 100, 101, 102, and 103 is provided with a server function. May be.

  In the embodiment, the number of high-quality MFPs is kept larger than the threshold value so that only MFPs other than high-quality MFPs are used. A state in which the number of MFPs is smaller than the second threshold (> threshold) may be maintained. In this case, the MFP is configured to execute an acquisition process at a predetermined interval, and when the number of high-quality MFPs exceeds the second threshold, some of the high-quality MFPs are included. On the other hand, it is preferable to change the execution conditions of the acquisition process so that the execution interval of the acquisition process becomes longer. As a result, it is possible to reduce the situation where the acquisition process is executed more than necessary and the toner is wasted.

50 Process Unit 61 Mark Sensor 66 Resist Pattern 100, 101, 102, 103 MFP
200 server 500 image forming system

Claims (6)

In an image forming system including a plurality of image forming apparatuses that perform acquisition processing for forming a mark for detecting at least one of a positional shift and a density shift, and acquiring a correction amount by measuring the mark.
Confirmation means for confirming an image quality state of an image forming apparatus belonging to the image forming system;
Determining means for determining whether or not to execute the acquisition process of the image forming apparatus based on the image quality state of the image forming apparatus confirmed by the confirmation means;
Equipped with a,
The confirmation means confirms at least the image quality state of the image forming apparatus in a printable state when the image forming apparatus whose image quality state is higher than a reference becomes unprintable.
Said determining means, in response to confirmation by the confirmation means, the image forming system characterized that you determine the one of the image forming apparatus of at least the printable state to the execution target of the acquisition process. In an image forming system including a plurality of image forming apparatuses that perform acquisition processing for forming a mark for detecting at least one of a positional shift and a density shift, and acquiring a correction amount by measuring the mark.
Confirmation means for confirming an image quality state of an image forming apparatus belonging to the image forming system;
Determination means for determining whether the number of image forming apparatuses having an image quality state higher than a reference is equal to or less than a threshold based on a confirmation result of the confirmation means;
By forming a mark for detecting at least one of a positional deviation and a density deviation on the image forming apparatus based on the image quality state of the image forming apparatus confirmed by the confirmation means , and measuring the mark Determining means for determining whether or not to execute the acquisition process for acquiring a correction amount ;
Equipped with a,
The determination unit determines that the image quality state is lower than the reference when the determination unit determines that the number of image forming apparatuses having an image quality state higher than the reference is equal to or less than a threshold based on the confirmation result of the confirmation unit image forming system characterized that you determine that requires execution of the acquisition process with respect to at least one of the lower image forming apparatus. In an image forming system including a plurality of image forming apparatuses that perform acquisition processing for forming a mark for detecting at least one of a positional shift and a density shift, and acquiring a correction amount by measuring the mark.
At least one image forming apparatus belonging to the image forming system includes:
An acquisition means for executing an acquisition process for acquiring a correction amount by forming a mark for detecting at least one of a positional deviation and a density deviation, and measuring the mark;
Confirmation means for confirming an image quality state of another image forming apparatus and an image quality state of the own apparatus;
Based on the image quality state of the other image forming apparatus confirmed by the confirmation means and the image quality state of the own apparatus, a mark for detecting at least one of positional deviation and density deviation is formed. Determining means for determining whether or not to execute the acquisition process for acquiring the correction amount by measuring in the own device;
An image forming system comprising: In the image forming system according to any one of claims 1 to 3 ,
An image forming system comprising an informing means for informing an image quality state of an image forming apparatus. An acquisition means for executing an acquisition process for acquiring a correction amount by forming a mark for detecting at least one of a positional deviation and a density deviation, and measuring the mark;
And confirmation means for confirming the image quality state of the image quality state and own apparatus of another image forming apparatus,
Based on the image quality state of the other image forming apparatus confirmed by the confirmation means and the image quality state of the own apparatus, a mark for detecting at least one of positional deviation and density deviation is formed. Determining means for determining whether or not to execute the acquisition process for acquiring the correction amount by measuring in the own device ;
An image forming apparatus comprising: The image forming apparatus according to claim 5,
A notification means for outputting a completion notification to another image forming apparatus when the acquisition process is completed;
Request means for outputting an execution request for the acquisition process to another image forming apparatus when printing in a state where the image quality state is higher than the reference is disabled;
Upon receipt of the execution request from another image forming apparatus, the apparatus waits until a waiting time set with a length different from that of the other image forming apparatus elapses, and at the end of the waiting time, the other image forming apparatus Determining means for determining whether or not the completion notice has been received from;
With
The confirmation unit confirms an image quality state of another image forming apparatus when the determination unit determines that the completion notification is not received,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determining unit determines whether or not the acquisition process is to be executed in response to the confirmation by the confirmation unit.

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