JP5707674B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art There is known an image forming apparatus that forms an image by conveying continuous paper which is an example of a single recording medium continuous in the longitudinal direction. An example of the overall configuration of a continuous paper image forming system 100 which is this type of apparatus is shown in FIG. In the apparatus shown in this figure, after the image forming apparatus 110 forms an image on the surface of the continuous paper 101, the image forming apparatus 210 provided on the downstream side in the transport direction forms an image on the back surface of the continuous paper 101. It is a continuous configuration.

  The image forming apparatus 110 transports the continuous paper 101 stored in the storage unit 154 by the transport unit 150 having a transport path constituted by rollers or the like, and transfers the image formed by the developing unit 130 to the continuous paper 101. The fixing unit 140 fixes the image. The image forming apparatus 210 has the same configuration as the image forming apparatus 110, and forms an image on the back surface of the continuous paper 101 on which the image is formed by the image forming apparatus 110. The intermediate buffer device 310 is disposed between the image forming devices 110 and 210, temporarily stores the continuous paper 101 discharged from the image forming device 110, and has a speed at which the image forming devices 110 and 210 convey the continuous paper 101. It is a device that absorbs the deviation. The reversing mechanism device 320 is a device that is disposed between the image forming apparatuses 110 and 210 and reverses the front and back of the continuous paper 101.

  Next, the end operation of the image forming process of the continuous paper image forming system 100 will be described. When the image forming apparatus 110 forms the image of the last page on the continuous paper 101, the continuous paper 101 is conveyed as it is, and the position corresponding to the back surface of the last page reaches the developing unit 230 of the image forming apparatus 210. When an image is formed on the back surface, the continuous paper 101 is further conveyed and stored in the storage unit 256. When this storage is completed, the conveyance process of the conveyance unit 150 and the conveyance unit 250 is completed (for example, Patent Document 1). Further, when the cancel operation is performed in the middle, in an apparatus that does not have a job concept, the image formation is stopped at that time, and the process is finished in a state where the front and back sides are not completed. Also, in an apparatus having the concept of a job, it is finished after the image formation of the job is completed.

JP-A-2005-225123

  An object of the present invention is to prevent image formation on unnecessary pages when image formation on continuous paper is stopped.

An image forming apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a conveyance unit that conveys continuous paper , a plurality of first image data representing a first image of a plurality of pages , and a plurality of the plurality of first image data related to the same printing process. An acquisition unit that acquires a plurality of second image data representing a second image of the page , and a continuous sheet conveyed by the conveyance unit according to the first image data acquired by the acquisition unit a first image forming means for forming a first image, wherein provided on the downstream side of the continuous paper than the first image forming means, to said continuous sheet in which the first image has been formed On the other hand, in accordance with the second image data acquired by the acquisition unit, a second image forming unit that forms a second image corresponding to the first image, and the print processing are designated to specify the image. Instruction means for instructing to stop the formation, and the instruction At the time it is instructed to specify the printing process by the step to stop the formation of the image, for the printing process, whether it is in forming the first image in the first image forming means, said first formation of one image is completed, determining means for determining whether the in formation of the second image in the second image forming means, the first image forming means and said second image forming means Execution means for causing the first image forming means to execute image formation when the first image forming means determines that the first image is being formed. The first image formation by the printer is stopped, the last page of the first image formed on the continuous paper by the stop is specified, and the second image forming unit specifies the last page. The mark to the page After the second image according to the processing to form the continuous paper, the formation of the second image is stopped, the formation of the first image is completed by the determining unit, the second image forming If the second image forming unit determines that the second image is being formed, and there is no next printing process, the second image forming unit causes all of the second image related to the printing process to be formed. When there is a next printing process after the page is formed, the first image forming unit forms a first image related to the next printing process, and the second image forming unit And executing means for forming a second image relating to the next printing process after all pages of the second image relating to the printing process are formed .

An image forming apparatus according to claim 2 of the present invention, obtained in the configuration of claim 1, a first storage means for storing the first image data of the plurality obtained by the obtaining unit, by the acquisition unit and a second storage means for storing the plurality of second image data, wherein the execution means, the first of said reading sequentially one by one the first image data of said plurality of storage means supplying the first image forming means, said first delete the first image data read out from said storage means, sequentially reading from said second storage means one by one the plurality of second image data is supplied to the second image forming means Te, delete the second image data read out from said second storage means, forms the first image in the first image forming unit by the determining means Determined to be in In this case, when the formation of the first image is stopped or when the formation of the second image is stopped, the remaining first image data stored in the first storage unit It was removed from the first storage means, when the formation of the second image is stopped, the second is stored in the storage unit, the first corresponding to the deleted the first image data The second image data is deleted from the second storage means.

In the image forming apparatus according to claim 3 of the present invention, in the configuration of claim 1 or 2, the first image forming unit forms the first image on one recording surface of the continuous paper , The second image forming means forms the second image on the other recording surface of the continuous paper .

According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent image formation on unnecessary pages when image formation on continuous paper is stopped.
According to the invention described in claim 2 of the present invention, it is easier than the case where there is no configuration for stopping the image formation by deleting the image data group stored in the first storage means and the second storage means. Can be controlled.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, even when image formation is stopped, an image can be formed on both sides of the continuous paper for a portion where the first image is formed.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a conventional continuous paper image forming system 100. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an overall configuration diagram of a continuous paper image forming system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance of the whole this embodiment. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of each unit of a continuous paper image forming system 100 according to the present embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the operation | movement of selection of cancellation operation | movement. It is a flowchart explaining the content of the operation | movement of cancellation operation | movement A. FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically showing image formation performed on the front and back of continuous paper in cancel operation A. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the content of a cancel operation B. FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing image formation performed on the front and back of continuous paper in cancel operation B. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the content of a cancel operation C. FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically showing image formation performed on the front and back of continuous paper in cancel operation C. It is a figure explaining the one aspect | mode of the display screen displayed on the operation part 411 during cancellation operation | movement. It is a figure explaining the comparison of the image formation process of this embodiment and the conventional.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

<Embodiment>
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of the continuous paper image forming system 100 according to the present embodiment. Here, portions corresponding to the respective portions of the continuous image forming system 100 shown in FIG.

  The image forming apparatus 110 illustrated in FIG. 2 includes an operation panel 161 and a control unit 160. The operation panel 161 has a liquid crystal display screen and a touch panel provided on the front surface thereof, and various inputs can be performed by touching the positions of buttons and the like displayed on the liquid crystal display screen. The control unit 160 controls each unit of the apparatus, and details will be described later. The image forming apparatus 210 is also provided with an operation panel 261 and a control unit 260, which have the same configuration as the operation panel 161 and the control unit 160 described above. The image forming apparatuses 110 and 210 are cooperatively controlled by the image forming control apparatus 410, and the image forming control apparatus 410 sends the image data supplied from the external apparatus 510 to the image forming apparatuses 110 and 210 in accordance with a procedure described later. Output. The operation unit 411 has a liquid crystal display screen and a touch panel provided in front of the liquid crystal display screen. By touching the position of a button or the like displayed on the liquid crystal display screen, various operations are input to the image formation control device 410. Can be done.

  The developing units 130 and 230 shown in FIG. 2 are the same as those shown in FIG. 1, and the photosensitive drums 132 and 232 are exposed inside and exposure for forming an electrostatic latent image on the surface thereof. LED exposure devices 136 and 236 for performing, and developing units 138 and 238 for attaching toner to the electrostatic latent image are provided. The above is the outline of the present embodiment, and FIG. 3 shows the overall appearance of the present embodiment. From FIG. 3, the conveyance status of the continuous paper 101 in this embodiment can be seen.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing in more detail each part described above. As shown in the figure, the control unit 160 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 162, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 163 storing a program used by the CPU 162, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) used as a work area of the CPU 162. 164, which constitute a general computer. The CPU 162 writes and reads data to and from the NVRAM 165 and the HDD (hard disk device) 166 which are nonvolatile RAMs.

  The CPU 162 performs various displays on the liquid crystal display screen of the operation panel 161 via the operation panel interface 168 and receives data input from the operation panel 161.

  The mechanism unit 120 illustrated in FIG. 4 is a block that forms an image on the continuous paper 101 including the conveyance unit 150, the developing unit 130, the fixing unit 140, the storage unit 154, and the like illustrated in FIG. The CPU 162 controls the mechanism unit 120 via the mechanism unit interface 167 and controls the conveyance, exposure, transfer, and the like of the continuous paper 101 in cooperation with each other. The image forming control device interface 169 exchanges data between the image forming control device 410 and the CPU 162. In addition, the control unit 260 and the mechanism unit 220 in the image forming apparatus 210 have the same configurations as the control unit 160 and the mechanism unit 120 described above, respectively.

  The image forming control apparatus 410 includes a CPU 412, a ROM 413 that stores programs used by the CPU 412, and a RAM 414 that is used as a work area of the CPU 412, and these constitute a general computer. The CPU 412 writes and reads data to and from the NVRAM 415 and the HDD (hard disk device) 416, which are nonvolatile RAMs, and controls the image forming apparatuses 110 and 210 via the control unit interface 417. Image data is received from the external device 510 via the interface 419.

  Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. In the present embodiment, in the continuous paper image forming system 100, during the image forming process, an operation for stopping image formation (hereinafter referred to as a cancel operation) is executed by an instruction for a cancel operation by an operation of the operation unit 411 or the like. Let The cancel operation is instructed for each job. Here, the job is a unit of a set of image data indicating an image corresponding to an area for one page in the continuous paper 101. For example, it is a set of image data necessary for forming an image on the continuous paper 101 for one document. Note that the continuous paper 101 is used as an example of a single recording medium continuous in the longitudinal direction, but is not limited to paper as long as the recording medium on which an image is formed is continuous in the longitudinal direction.

  In the present embodiment, the operations of the image forming apparatuses 110 and 210 differ depending on the timing at which this cancel operation is executed. Specifically, at the timing when the cancel operation is executed, the image forming apparatuses 110 and 210 depend on whether or not a job to be instructed for the cancel operation has been started in the image forming apparatuses 110 and 210. The contents of the operation are different. There are three types of cancel operations, cancel operations A, B, and C, in which the contents of the operations of the image forming apparatuses 110 and 210 are different, and one of them is selected according to the execution timing of the cancel operation. First, the canceling operations A, B, and C that are executed will be described with reference to FIG. 5, and then the canceling operations A, B, and C will be described.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of selecting a cancel operation that is executed when a cancel operation instruction is issued. First, the image formation control device 410 determines whether image formation has been started in the image formation device 110 for image data relating to a job for which a cancel operation has been designated (step S100). When the image formation for the image data related to the job has not started (step S100; No), that is, the image formation for the image data related to another job is performed, and the job that is the target of the cancel operation instruction When waiting for the image forming process, the image forming control device 410 controls the cancel operation A (step S104) and ends the cancel operation.

  On the other hand, when the image formation for the image data related to the job that is the target of the cancel operation has been started (step S100; Yes), the image formation control device 410 displays the image forming device 110 (in the figure, “upstream machine”). ”), It is determined whether image formation for the image data relating to the job is being processed or has already been completed (step S101). If the image is being formed (step S101; Yes), The cancel operation B (step S105) is controlled, and the cancel operation ends.

  In the image forming apparatus 110, when the image forming process for the image data relating to the job that is the target of the cancel operation is completed (step S101; No), the image forming control apparatus 410 displays the image forming apparatus 210. (In the figure, it is indicated as “downstream machine”), it is determined whether image formation for the image data relating to the job is being processed or has already been stopped (step S102). If the image is being formed (step S102; Yes), the image formation for the image data currently being formed is continued (step S103). When the image formation is completed, the cancel operation C (step S106) is performed. And the cancel operation is terminated. Even when image formation is stopped in the image forming apparatus 210 (step S102; No), the cancel operation C (step S106) is controlled, and the cancel operation ends. Next, the cancel operation A will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the contents of the cancel operation A. When the cancel operation A is started, the image forming control apparatus 410 receives an image related to a job that has been subject to the cancel operation from the upstream machine print buffer 180 in the image forming apparatus 110 and the downstream machine print buffer 280 in the image forming apparatus 210. The data is deleted (step S200), and the cancel operation A is terminated.

  The upstream machine print buffer 180 is a buffer for storing image data of an image to be formed on the upstream machine side, and is set in the NVRAM 165, the HDD 166, or the RAM 164. The downstream machine print buffer 280 is a buffer for storing image data of an image to be formed on the downstream machine side corresponding to an image formed on the upstream machine side, and is set in the NVRAM 265, HDD 266, or RAM 264. The image data buffered in each is obtained from the image formation control device 410. Then, image data is output by a first-in first-out method (FIFO (First In First Out) method), and an image related to the image data is formed on the continuous paper 101. Further, the image forming control apparatus 410 has a function of specifying a position where a job of image data output from the upstream machine print buffer 180 and the downstream machine print buffer 280 is switched. A specific example of the cancel operation A will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 7 schematically shows image formation performed on the front and back of the continuous paper 101 in the cancel operation A. As shown in FIG. 7A, the continuous paper 101 is sequentially formed on the front side by the image forming apparatus 110 which is an upstream machine, and the front and back are reversed by the reversing mechanism apparatus 320. The image forming apparatus 210 forms an image on the back side of each page.

  FIG. 7A is a diagram illustrating a state when a cancel operation instruction is performed for job B. In this state, both the image forming apparatuses 110 and 210 form an image related to job A. Yes. Therefore, image data related to jobs A, B, and C (jobs A, B, and C indicate different jobs) are buffered in the upstream machine print buffer 180 and the downstream machine print buffer 280, respectively. The upstream print point shown in the drawing is a position on the conveyance path where the transfer is completed in the developing unit 130, and the downstream print point is a position on the conveyance path where the transfer is completed in the developing unit 230. The stack point indicates a position stored in the storage unit 256.

  In the state shown in FIG. 7A, when a cancel operation instruction is issued for job B, image formation has not yet started for job B (step S100; No in FIG. 5), and cancel operation A is performed. Is called. The operation for deleting the image data relating to the job B subject to the cancel operation from the upstream machine print buffer 180 and the downstream machine print buffer 280 in step S200 is performed as follows. The image formation control device 410 identifies the last image data related to job A processed before job B among the image data buffered in the upstream machine print buffer 180, and the image data is the upstream machine print. When the image data is output from the buffer 180, the subsequent image data is once deleted, and the image data related to the job C, excluding the job B, is buffered in the upstream machine print buffer 180 again.

  Then, in the image forming apparatus 110, image formation related to job C is started, and the continuous paper 101 is conveyed. When the image forming apparatus 210 continues to form an image related to the remaining job A, the image forming control apparatus 410 includes the image data stored in the downstream machine print buffer 280 before the job B. When the last image data related to job A being processed is specified and the image data is output from the downstream machine print buffer 280, the subsequent image data is once deleted, and the job C except for job B is newly deleted. The downstream image print buffer 280 is caused to buffer the image data related to the image data. In this way, the image data related to job B is deleted. FIG. 7B shows a state in which image formation related to job C is started and a page on which an image related to job A is formed is stored in the storage unit 256.

  Next, the cancel operation B will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the contents of the cancel operation B. When the cancel operation B is started, the image forming control device 410 stops image formation in the image forming devices 110 and 210 (step S300). And it waits until the instruction | indication of a drain is received (step S301; No). The drain instruction is instructed by operating the operation unit 411 or the like, or by elapse of a preset time after stopping the image formation. The drain will be described later.

  When the drain instruction is received (step S301; Yes), the image forming apparatus 210 forms an image up to the page on which the image forming apparatus 110 forms an image (step S302). Then, the cancel operation B ends. Next, a specific example of the cancel operation B will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 9 schematically shows image formation performed on the front and back of the continuous paper 101 in the cancel operation B. FIG. 9A shows a state when a cancel operation instruction is issued for job A. In this state, both the image forming apparatuses 110 and 210 form an image related to job A. Yes. If a cancel operation instruction is given in this state, a cancel operation B is performed. First, image formation is stopped in the state of FIG. When a drain instruction is given, drain processing is performed. The drain process is a process in which the image forming apparatus 110 conveys the continuous paper 101 by a certain amount in a state where the image formation is stopped or an image such as a mark indicating an area of one page is formed.

  As the continuous paper 101 is transported by the drain process, the image forming apparatus 210 sequentially forms images related to the image data buffered in the downstream machine print buffer 280 on the continuous paper 101, and the image forming apparatus 110 performs image processing. Image formation is continued until the formed page, and then image formation is stopped. The image formation is stopped in the image forming apparatus 210 by detecting an image formed on the continuous paper 101, for example, a page mark by a sensor (not shown) in the image forming apparatus 210. This is realized by determining whether or not.

  In this way, when the drain process is performed and the image formation in the image forming apparatus 210 is completed, the image data buffered in the upstream machine print buffer 180 and the downstream machine print buffer 280 is deleted and subsequently processed. The image data related to job B is buffered again. It should be noted that the deletion of image data in the upstream machine print buffer 180 and a new buffer may be performed when image formation is stopped (step S300).

  FIG. 9B shows a state where the image formation in the image forming apparatus 210 is completed and the job B is buffered again. In this figure, it is assumed that the conveyance of the continuous paper 101 is stopped when the image formation in the image forming apparatus 210 is completed, but the continuous paper 101 is in a state until the page on which the image is formed is stored in the storage unit 256. May be stopped after being conveyed.

  Next, the cancel operation C will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating the details of the cancel operation C. When the cancel operation C is started, the image forming control apparatus 410 determines whether or not the image data relating to the job next to the job to be instructed for the cancel operation exists in the upstream machine print buffer 180 (step S400). ). If there is image data relating to the next job (step S400; Yes), an image relating to the next job is formed as it is, and the page on which the image is formed in the image forming apparatus 110 is the image forming apparatus 210. Then, image formation is performed (step S402), and the cancel operation C is terminated.

  Note that the case where there is image data relating to the next job includes the case where the image data already exists or the case where it has been newly added. The case where the image already exists means that the image forming apparatus 110 has started forming an image related to the next job at the time of the cancel operation, or immediately after the last image related to the job to be canceled is formed. State. On the other hand, when newly added, the image data related to the next job is not buffered, so that the image forming apparatus 110 stops image formation immediately after the last image related to the job to be canceled is formed. It is in a state of being.

  When there is no next job in the upstream machine print buffer 180 (step S400; No), that is, in a state where image formation is stopped immediately after the last image related to the job to be canceled is formed in the image forming apparatus 110. Determines whether or not a drain instruction has been received (step S401). If no drain instruction is received (step S401; No), the process returns to step S400. That is, the determination in steps S400 and S401 is continued until either the next job is added or the drain instruction is received.

  When a drain instruction is received (step S401; Yes), drain processing is performed, and an image is formed in the image forming apparatus 210 for a page on which an image has been formed in the image forming apparatus 110 (step S402). In other words, an image relating to the image data buffered in the downstream machine print buffer 280 is formed, and the cancel operation C is completed. Next, a specific example of the cancel operation B will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 11 schematically shows image formation performed on the front and back of the continuous paper 101 in the cancel operation C. FIG. 11A is a diagram illustrating a state when a cancel operation instruction is issued for job A. In this state, the image forming apparatus 110 completes image formation related to job A and performs job B. On the other hand, the image forming apparatus 210 forms an image related to job A. When a cancel operation instruction is issued in this state, a cancel operation C is performed. In this case, since the next job B exists, image formation continues as it is. FIG. 11B shows a state in which the image formation is continued and the page on which the image related to job A is formed is stored in the storage unit 256. The above is the description of the operation in the present embodiment.

  Next, an aspect of a display screen displayed on the operation unit 411 during the cancel operation will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an aspect of a display screen displayed on the operation unit 411 during the cancel operation. This figure is a screen showing job management, which has tabs of valid jobs, hold jobs, completed jobs, and deleted jobs, and is a screen in which valid jobs are selected. The screen corresponding to the valid job is listed with items of job ID, job name (corresponding to jobs A and B described above), queue, format, and status. As for the status, when image formation is started, the printing progresses, the upstream printing is completed (image formation is completed in the image forming apparatus 110), and the printing is completed. All pages on which the image related to the job is formed are stored. When stored in the section 256, it is moved to the list of tabs for completed jobs. Of the jobs in which an image is formed even on one page, the status of the job subject to the cancel operation is cancelled. The job that has been canceled is displayed in the list of valid jobs until all pages on which images related to the job are formed are stored in the storage unit 256, and then moved to the hold tab.

  Next, a comparison between the image forming process in the present embodiment and the conventional image forming process will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining a comparison of image forming processing between the present embodiment and the related art. Fig.13 (a) is the figure which described the state in Fig.11 (a) simply. In this state, a comparison between the present embodiment and the conventional case when a cancel operation instruction for job A or job B is given will be described.

  FIG. 13B is a diagram illustrating a case where an instruction for canceling jobs A and B in the related art is given. In any case, in the conventional case, the image data related to the jobs buffered in the upstream machine print buffer 180 and the downstream machine print buffer 280 are all formed. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 13C, in the case of the present embodiment, when an instruction to cancel the job A is given, the image formation for the job A is completed in the image forming apparatus 110 (upstream machine). Therefore, image formation is also performed in the image forming apparatus 210 (downstream machine). Further, when an instruction to cancel the job B is given, since the image formation is performed in the image forming apparatus 110 for the job B, the subsequent image formation is stopped, and the image forming apparatus 210 also The image forming apparatus 110 forms the image up to the page on which the image is formed, and the process ends.

  As described above, when the continuous sheet image forming system 100 according to the present embodiment stops image formation in the middle of a job, the image forming apparatus 110 is in a state where image data relating to the job remains in the upstream machine print buffer. However, the image formation is interrupted in the image in the middle of the job, and the image forming apparatus 210 forms the image up to the page on which the image is formed. Therefore, unnecessary page image formation is suppressed, and unnecessary paper consumption is suppressed. On the other hand, with respect to a page on which image formation has been performed, images are formed on both sides and are not wasted by being reused later.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention can be implemented with a various form as follows.

<Modification 1>
In the embodiment described above, an example in which images are formed on both sides of the continuous paper 101 has been described, but the image forming apparatus 110 and the image forming apparatus 210 are configured to form an image on one side of the continuous paper. Also good. In this case, for example, the image forming apparatus 110 forms an image of Y (yellow) M (magenta) C (cyan) K (black), and the image forming apparatus 210 has colors other than Y, M, C, and K ( For example, an example of forming an image of a metallic color or a transparent color) can be considered. In this example, the first image data representing an image of a color other than Y, M, C, and K on the same page, and the second image data representing an image of a color other than Y, M, C, and K Are buffered in the upstream machine print buffer 180 and the downstream machine print buffer 280, respectively.

<Modification 2>
In the above-described embodiment, in the cancel operation B, the image forming apparatus 210 detects the image formed on the continuous paper 101 when recognizing the page on which the image is formed in the image forming apparatus 110. Alternatively, the image forming apparatus 110 may recognize the image forming apparatus 210 by outputting a signal designating the timing for stopping the image formation. This timing may be specified by the number of remaining pages on which an image is to be formed, the number of pages on which an image has been formed in the job, or may be specified in terms of time.

<Modification 3>
In the embodiment described above, when image formation is stopped in the image forming apparatus 110, the stop timing is also performed in units of pages so that images are formed in units of pages. However, image formation is performed in the middle of a page. It may be stopped. In this case, if the image formation is stopped in the middle of the page, the image forming apparatus 210 may assume that the image is not formed on the page or may be processed as an image formed. Good.

<Modification 4>
In the embodiment described above, the electrophotographic image forming apparatuses 110 and 210 are taken as an example. However, the image forming method is not limited to this, and any method may be used. For example, you may perform image formation by an inkjet system. In this case, since the transfer and the fixing are performed at the same time, there is no unfixed state after the transfer.

<Modification 5>
In the above-described embodiment, the continuous paper 101 that can be separated by the perforation is taken as an example. For example, roll paper without perforations may be used. In this case, the pages are separated page by page by a post-processing device that performs sheet cutting.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Continuous paper image forming system, 101 ... Continuous paper, 110, 210 ... Image forming apparatus, 310 ... Intermediate buffer apparatus, 320 ... Reverse mechanism apparatus, 120, 220 ... Mechanism part, 130, 230 ... Developing part, 132, 232 ... photosensitive drum, 136, 236 ... LED exposure device, 138, 238 ... developing unit, 140, 240 ... fixing unit, 150, 250 ... transport unit, 154 ... storage unit, 256 ... storage unit, 160, 260 ... control unit, 161, 261 ... operation panel, 180 ... upstream machine print buffer, 280 ... downstream machine print buffer, 410 ... image formation control device, 510 ... external device

Claims (3)

Conveying means for conveying continuous paper ;
According to the same printing process, a plurality of a plurality of first image data representing a first image of a page, the plurality of the plurality of second image data acquiring means for acquiring a representative of a second image of the page When,
A first image forming unit that forms a first image corresponding to the first image data acquired by the acquiring unit on the continuous paper conveyed by the conveying unit;
It provided downstream in the transport direction of the continuous paper than said first image forming means, to said continuous sheet in which the first image is formed, according to a second image data acquired by the acquisition unit A second image forming means for forming a second image corresponding to the first image;
Instruction means for instructing to stop the formation of an image by designating the printing process;
Whether the first image forming unit is forming the first image at the time when the instruction unit instructs the print processing to stop forming the image. Determining means for determining whether the formation of the first image is completed and the second image forming means is forming the second image;
An execution unit for causing the first image forming unit and the second image forming unit to form an image, wherein the first image forming unit is forming the first image by the determining unit. If it is determined that the first image forming unit stops forming the first image, the last page of the first image formed on the continuous paper until the stop is made. And the second image forming unit forms the second image related to the printing process up to the specified page on the continuous paper , stops the formation of the second image, and determines the determination. formation of the first image is completed by means, wherein when it is determined that in forming said second image in the second image forming means, if there is no next printing process, the first 2 by the image forming means. When all the pages of the second image related to are formed and stopped, and there is a next printing process, the first image forming unit forms the first image related to the next printing process. And executing means for forming the second image relating to the next printing process after all the pages of the second image relating to the printing process are formed by the second image forming means. An image forming apparatus. First storage means for storing the first image data of the plurality obtained by the obtaining means,
And a second storage means for storing second image data of the plurality obtained by the obtaining means,
The execution means includes
The plurality of first image data are sequentially read from the first storage unit one by one , supplied to the first image forming unit, and the read first image data is deleted from the first storage unit And
The plurality of second image data are sequentially read out one by one from the second storage means, supplied to the second image forming means, and the read second image data is deleted from the second storage means And
If it is determined by the determining means that the first image forming means is forming the first image, the formation of the first image is stopped or the second image When the formation is stopped, the remaining first image data stored in the first storage means is deleted from the first storage means, and the formation of the second image is stopped. , according to claim 1, characterized in that to remove the second storage means is stored, the second image data corresponding to the deleted the first image data from said second memory means Image forming apparatus. The first image forming unit forms the first image on one recording surface of the continuous paper ,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second image forming unit forms the second image on the other recording surface of the continuous paper .

Images