JP5833881B2 - Image forming apparatus, method, system, and printer driver - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, method, system, and printer driver, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus, method, system, and printer driver having a function of determining whether or not a replacement part is a non-genuine product. .

  Replacement parts such as photosensitive drums, transfer belts, and toner cartridges used in image forming apparatuses such as multifunction peripherals supply genuine supplies to ensure the print quality. There are an increasing number of cases where third parties other than sales manufacturers sell supplies as compatible parts. Although the compatible parts are supplied at a low price, the printing quality is not guaranteed at all, and the equipment is not maintained by the seller of the compatible parts. In addition, normal multifunction devices are not designed to support non-genuine supplies, so when non-genuine products are used, printing may be blurred or fogged due to environmental conditions such as high temperature / high humidity, low temperature / low humidity, etc. Etc. occurred remarkably, and the deterioration of the print quality was a problem.

  On the other hand, for example, Patent Document 1 describes an image forming apparatus that can identify whether or not a replacement part is a genuine product. The image forming apparatus reads the toner manufacturer company name information from the memory tag built in the toner cartridge, compares the read company name information with the company name information stored in advance, and if they match, the image forming apparatus is attached. The toner cartridge is determined to be a genuine product, the company name information is displayed on the display unit, and the image density correction operation is executed. If they do not match, the installed toner cartridge is a non-genuine product. The company name information is not displayed on the display unit, and the image density correction operation is not executed.

  Patent Document 2 describes an image forming apparatus that can select a first mode that presumes the use of genuine consumables and a second mode that permits the use of non-genuine consumables. The image forming apparatus includes: a consumables determination unit that determines whether a mounted consumable is genuine or non-genuine; a print job reception unit that receives a print instruction; and a print job reception when the first mode is selected. If the consumables used to reproduce the color instructed to print by means include consumables determined to be non-genuine by the consumables determination means, without using the consumables determined to be non-genuine, An image is formed using only consumables determined to be genuine.

JP 2010-266588 A JP 2009-300694 A

  Here, some of the above-described multifunction peripherals have a toner save mode in which printing is performed while suppressing the amount of toner used during printing. This toner save mode is used, for example, for printing in-house materials or hand-held materials that do not require high print quality, and printing is performed with a minimum amount of toner used so as not to greatly deteriorate the visibility of the printed image. As a method for reducing the amount of toner used, a method for reducing the charge amount to the toner itself, a method for reducing the developing bias when the toner is attached to the photosensitive drum, and a photosensitive member for attracting the toner by the photosensitive drum. A method of reducing the charge amount of the drum is generally performed. In such a toner save mode, even a manufacturer of a multi-function device is currently struggling to derive a combination of bias and temperature setting that ensures good print quality suitable for genuine parts.

  When the toner save mode is set, if a non-genuine product is used for the photosensitive drum, transfer belt, toner cartridge, etc. under the image forming conditions set for the genuine product, it is set by the manufacturer. With the charged bias, problems such as formation of electrostatic latent images (development), primary transfer, secondary transfer, and fixing are likely to occur, and it is very difficult to form a good image. For this reason, there is a problem in that printing defects such as fading occur, leading to wasteful consumption of recording paper and power.

  In addition, when the toner adhesion amount is reduced by the toner save mode, if development, primary transfer, and secondary transfer are not performed well as described above, for example, fine lines such as ruled lines and underlines There is also a problem in that small symbols such as commas, periods, decimal points, mazes, colons, semicolons, etc., are not transferred to the recording paper, resulting in a useless printed matter.

  On the other hand, the techniques described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 cannot perform good printing when detecting that the toner cartridge is a non-genuine product. When image quality is required, printing is performed using only genuine products without using non-genuine products, but the above problems are not taken into consideration. In addition, when a non-genuine product is used, there is a method of prohibiting the printing operation, but if it is uniformly prohibited, the convenience for the user is greatly impaired.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and even when a non-genuine product is used as a replacement part, the recording paper due to printing defects such as print fading without impairing user convenience. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus, a method, a system, and a printer driver that can suppress wastefulness.

  In order to solve the above problems, the first technical means of the present invention includes an image forming unit that forms an image, a non-genuine product determination unit that determines whether or not a replacement part of the image forming unit is a non-genuine product, An image forming apparatus including a control unit that controls the image forming unit in accordance with an image forming condition input from an image forming condition input unit, wherein the non-genuine product determination unit determines that a replacement part of the image forming unit is not When it is determined as a genuine product, the control unit inputs a toner save mode for performing image formation while suppressing the amount of toner used during image formation out of the image formation conditions that can be input from the image formation condition input unit. It is characterized by prohibition.

  According to a second technical means, in the first technical means, the control unit hides the toner save mode when the image forming condition is selectably displayed by the image forming condition input unit. It is characterized by controlling.

  According to a third technical means, in the first technical means, the control unit controls the toner save mode to be grayed out when the image forming condition input unit displays the image forming condition in a selectable manner. It is characterized by doing.

  According to a fourth technical means, in any one of the first to third technical means, when the control unit prohibits input of the toner save mode, the replacement part of the image forming unit is a non-genuine product. Therefore, the fact that it is prohibited is notified.

  A fifth technical means includes a detection unit that detects temperature and / or humidity in any one of the first to fourth technical means, and the replacement part of the image forming unit is determined to be a non-genuine product. When the temperature and / or humidity detected by the detection unit is not within a predetermined range, the control unit prohibits all input of image forming conditions that can be input from the image forming condition input unit, and forms an image. This is characterized in that processing cannot be executed.

  According to a sixth technical means, in any one of the first to fifth technical means, the image forming condition input unit includes a copy condition input screen displayed on an operation panel of the image forming apparatus. It is what.

  According to a seventh technical means, in any one of the first to fifth technical means, the image forming apparatus is connected to an information processing apparatus in which a printer driver is installed via a network, and the image forming condition input unit Is provided with a print condition input screen of a printer driver displayed on the display unit of the information processing apparatus.

  The eighth technical means includes an image forming unit that forms an image, a non-genuine product determination unit that determines whether or not a replacement part of the image forming unit is a non-genuine product, and an image input from an image forming condition input unit. An image forming method by an image forming apparatus including a control unit that controls the image forming unit according to a forming condition, wherein the non-genuine product determination unit determines whether a replacement part of the image forming unit is a non-genuine product. A determination step; and when the control unit determines that the product is a non-genuine product in the determination step, among the image formation conditions that can be input from the image formation condition input unit, the amount of toner used during image formation is suppressed. An input prohibiting step for prohibiting input of a toner save mode for performing image formation, and an image forming step for performing image formation by the image forming unit based on image forming conditions for which the toner save mode is prohibited in the input prohibiting step. Tsu is obtained is characterized in that a flop.

  A ninth technical means is an image forming system in which an information processing apparatus in which a printer driver is installed and an image forming apparatus controlled by the printer driver are connected via a network, and the image forming apparatus includes: An image forming unit that forms an image, a non-genuine product determination unit that determines whether or not a replacement part of the image forming unit is a non-genuine product, and a communication that transmits a determination result by the non-genuine product determination unit to the information processing apparatus A printer driver of the information processing apparatus, and when the determination result from the image forming apparatus is a non-genuine product, among the image forming conditions that can be input from the printing condition input screen of the printer driver, The toner save mode for performing image formation while suppressing the amount of toner used during formation is prohibited.

  The tenth technical means is a printer driver that can be installed in the information processing apparatus constituting the image forming system in the ninth technical means.

  According to the present invention, when it is determined that a non-genuine product other than the genuine product supplied by the manufacturer is used in the apparatus, the toner save mode is prohibited from being input among the image forming conditions that can be input. Further, since it is possible to prevent fading of printing, transfer defects such as ruled lines, fine lines, and small symbols, waste of recording paper due to printing defects can be suppressed without impairing user convenience.

1 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment in which an image forming apparatus according to the present invention is configured as a multifunction peripheral. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a main part of an image forming apparatus and an information processing apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a toner cartridge that is a replacement part. It is a flowchart for demonstrating an example of the image forming method by the image forming apparatus of this invention. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an appearance of an operation panel included in the image forming apparatus. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the initial screen at the time of copy mode. It is a figure which shows an example of the copy condition input screen according to the determination result by a non-genuine product determination part. It is a figure which shows an example of the printing condition input screen when the determination result by a non-genuine product determination part is a genuine product. It is a figure which shows an example of the printing condition input screen when the determination result by a non-genuine product determination part is a non-genuine product.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of an image forming apparatus, a method, a system, and a printer driver according to the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment in which an image forming apparatus according to the present invention is configured as a multifunction peripheral, and illustrates an example of an image forming apparatus configured as a multifunction peripheral having a scanner function.
The image forming apparatus 100 forms an image on recording paper by transmitting image data transmitted from the outside or read by a scanner (image reading means), and includes an apparatus main body 130 and an automatic document processing apparatus 120.

The apparatus main body 130 includes an exposure unit 1, a developing device 2, a photosensitive drum 3, a cleaner unit 4, a charger 5, an intermediate transfer belt unit 6, a fixing unit 7, a paper feed cassette 81, a paper discharge tray 91, and the like.
A document placing table 92 made of transparent glass is provided on the upper portion of the apparatus main body 130, and an automatic document processing device 120 that automatically conveys the document to the document placing table 92 is attached on the upper side. The automatic document processing device 120 is configured to be rotatable in the direction of arrow M, and the document can be placed manually by opening the document table 92.

  The apparatus main body 130 has an image reading unit 90 accommodated in a housing. The image reading means 90 is a reduction optical system image reading means composed of a light source unit 93 that holds the light source and the first mirror, a mirror unit 94 that holds the second and third mirrors, and a lens and the CCD 95. . In addition, the apparatus main body 130 is provided with an operation panel (not shown) so that a user can input an operation. Further, the apparatus main body 130 includes means for inputting image data from an externally connected apparatus, or means for reading image data from a portable recording medium (none of which is shown).

  The image data handled in the image forming apparatus 100 corresponds to, for example, four color images of black (K), cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y). Accordingly, four each of the developing device 2, the photosensitive drum (image carrier) 3, the charger 5, and the cleaner unit 4 are provided so as to form four types of latent images corresponding to the respective colors. An image station is configured.

The charger 5 is a charging means for uniformly charging the surface of the photosensitive drum 3 to a predetermined potential. In addition to the charger type as shown in FIG. 1, a contact type roller type or brush type charger is used. Sometimes used.
The exposure unit 1 is configured as a laser scanning unit (LSU) provided with a laser emitting unit, a reflection mirror, and the like. The exposure unit 1 scans the laser beam emitted from the laser emitting unit, and the laser beam reflected by the polygon mirror. Optical elements such as lenses and mirrors for guiding the photosensitive drum 3 are arranged. In addition, as the exposure unit 1, for example, a method using an EL or LED writing head in which light emitting elements are arranged in an array can be employed.

  The exposure unit 1 has a function of forming an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image data on the surface thereof by exposing the charged photosensitive drum 3 according to the input image data. The developing unit 2 visualizes the electrostatic latent images formed on the respective photosensitive drums 3 with toners of four colors (Y, M, C, K). The cleaner unit 4 removes and collects toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 3 after development and image transfer.

The intermediate transfer belt unit 6 disposed above the photosensitive drum 3 includes an intermediate transfer belt 61, an intermediate transfer belt driving roller 62, an intermediate transfer belt driven roller 63, an intermediate transfer roller 64, and an intermediate transfer belt cleaning unit 65. I have. Four intermediate transfer rollers 64 are provided corresponding to each color of Y, M, C, and K.
The intermediate transfer belt driving roller 62, the intermediate transfer belt driven roller 63, and the intermediate transfer roller 64 are driven to rotate while the intermediate transfer belt 61 is stretched. Each intermediate transfer roller 64 provides a transfer bias for transferring the toner image on the photosensitive drum 3 onto the intermediate transfer belt 61.

  The intermediate transfer belt 61 is provided in contact with each photosensitive drum 3. Then, the color toner images (multicolor toner images) are formed on the intermediate transfer belt 61 by sequentially superimposing and transferring the respective color toner images formed on the photosensitive drum 3 onto the intermediate transfer belt 61. The intermediate transfer belt 61 is formed in an endless shape using, for example, a film having a thickness of about 100 μm to 150 μm.

  Transfer of the toner image from the photosensitive drum 3 to the intermediate transfer belt 61 is performed by an intermediate transfer roller 64 that is in contact with the back side of the intermediate transfer belt 61. A high-voltage transfer bias (a high voltage having a polarity (+) opposite to the toner charging polarity (−)) is applied to the intermediate transfer roller 64 in order to transfer the toner image. The intermediate transfer roller 64 is a roller whose base is a metal (for example, stainless steel) shaft having a diameter of 8 to 10 mm and whose surface is covered with a conductive elastic material (for example, EPDM, urethane foam, or the like). With this conductive elastic material, a high voltage can be uniformly applied to the intermediate transfer belt 61. In this configuration example, a roller shape is used as the transfer electrode, but a brush or the like can also be used.

  As described above, the electrostatic images visualized according to the respective hues on the respective photosensitive drums 3 are stacked on the intermediate transfer belt 61. The stacked electrostatic images are transferred onto the recording sheet by the rotation of the intermediate transfer belt 61 by a transfer roller 10 which is a secondary transfer mechanism unit disposed at a contact position between the sheet and the intermediate transfer belt 61 described later. The The secondary transfer mechanism is not limited to a transfer roller, and a corona charger or a transfer belt can also be used.

  At this time, the intermediate transfer belt 61 and the transfer roller 10 are pressed against each other with a predetermined nip pressure, and a voltage for transferring the toner to the sheet is applied to the transfer roller 10 (opposite to the charging polarity (−) of the toner). Polarity (+) high voltage). Further, in order to obtain the nip pressure constantly, the transfer roller 10 uses either the transfer roller 10 or the intermediate transfer belt driving roller 62 as a hard material (metal or the like) and the other as a soft material (such as an elastic roller). An elastic rubber roller, a foamable resin roller, etc.).

  Further, as described above, the toner adhered to the intermediate transfer belt 61 by contacting the photosensitive drum 3 or the toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 61 without being transferred to the recording paper by the transfer roller 10 is used in the next step. Therefore, the intermediate transfer belt cleaning unit 65 is configured to remove and collect the toner. The intermediate transfer belt cleaning unit 65 includes a cleaning blade as a cleaning member that comes into contact with the intermediate transfer belt 61. The intermediate transfer belt 61 that comes into contact with the cleaning blade is supported by an intermediate transfer belt driven roller 63 from the back side. ing.

  The paper feed cassette 81 is a tray for storing recording paper (sheets) used for image formation, and is provided below the exposure unit 1 of the apparatus main body 130. In addition, recording paper used for image formation can also be placed in the manual paper feed cassette 82. A paper discharge tray 91 provided above the apparatus main body 110 is a tray for collecting printed recording sheets face down.

  In addition, the apparatus main body 110 includes a substantially vertical sheet conveyance path S1 for feeding the recording sheets of the sheet feeding cassette 81 and the manual sheet feeding cassette 82 to the sheet discharge tray 91 via the transfer roller 10 and the fixing unit 7. Is provided. In the vicinity of the paper transport path S1 from the paper feed cassette 81 or the manual paper feed cassette 82 to the paper discharge tray 91, pickup rollers 11a and 11b, a plurality of transport rollers 12a to 12d, a registration roller 13, a transfer roller 10, and a fixing unit. 7 etc. are arranged.

  The transport rollers 12a to 12d are small rollers for promoting and assisting the transport of the recording paper, and a plurality of the transport rollers 12a to 12d are provided along the paper transport path S1. The pickup roller 11a is provided near the end of the paper feed cassette 81, picks up recording paper one by one from the paper feed cassette 81, and supplies it to the paper transport path S1. Similarly, the pickup roller 11b is provided near the end of the manual paper feed cassette 82, picks up recording paper from the manual paper feed cassette 82 one by one, and supplies it to the paper transport path S1.

  The registration roller 13 temporarily holds the recording paper that is being transported through the paper transport path S1. The recording paper is transported to the transfer roller 10 at the timing when the leading edge of the toner image on the photosensitive drum 3 is aligned with the leading edge of the recording paper.

  The fixing unit 7 includes a heat roller 71 and a pressure roller 72. The heat roller 71 and the pressure roller 72 are configured to rotate with the recording paper interposed therebetween. The heat roller 71 is controlled by the control means so as to reach a predetermined fixing temperature based on a signal from a temperature detector (not shown) and cooperates with the pressure roller 72 to thermally press the toner onto the recording paper. Thus, the multi-color toner image transferred to the recording paper is melted, mixed, and pressed to be thermally fixed to the recording paper. An external heating belt 73 for heating the heat roller 71 from the outside is provided.

  Next, the recording paper conveyance path will be described more specifically. As described above, the image forming apparatus 100 is provided with the paper feed cassette 81 and the manual paper feed cassette 82 that store recording paper in advance. In order to feed the recording paper from these paper feed cassettes 81 and 82, pickup rollers 11a and 11b are respectively arranged so as to guide the recording paper one by one to the paper transport path S1.

  The recording paper conveyed from each of the paper feed cassettes 81 and 82 is conveyed to the registration roller 13 by the conveyance roller 12a in the paper conveyance path S1, and the timing at which the leading edge of the recording paper and the leading edge of the image information on the intermediate transfer belt 61 are aligned. The image information is written on the recording paper. Thereafter, the recording paper passes through the fixing unit 7, whereby the unfixed toner on the recording paper is melted and fixed by heat, and is then discharged onto the paper discharge tray 91 through the conveying roller 12 b disposed thereafter.

  The above-mentioned transport path is for a single-sided printing request for recording paper. On the other hand, for a double-sided printing request, the single-sided printing is completed and the recording paper after passing through the fixing unit 7 as described above. When the end is gripped by the final transport roller 12b, the transport roller 12b rotates in reverse to guide the recording paper to the transport path S2 in which the transport rollers 12c and 12d are arranged. Then, the conveyance path S2 joins the conveyance path S1, and the recording paper is conveyed from the registration roller 13 to the transfer roller 10. At this time, since the front and back sides of the recording paper are reversed at the stage of joining from the conveyance path S2 to S1, the transfer roller 10 performs printing on the back side of the recording paper. Then, the recording paper printed on the back surface is fixed by the fixing unit 7 and discharged to the paper discharge tray 91.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a main part of the image forming apparatus and the information processing apparatus according to the present invention. The image forming apparatus 100 is configured as, for example, the above-described multifunction peripheral, and controls the functions of the image forming apparatus 100 and is realized by a microcomputer having a CPU, ROM, RAM, and the like, and an operation unit 102a. And an operation panel 102 including a display unit 102 b, an image forming unit 103 that forms an image of image data on recording paper according to the control of the control unit 101, and a communication unit 104 for connecting to the information processing apparatus 200 via the network N. A storage unit 105 such as a hard disk, a reading unit 106 that reads ID information from an IC chip attached to the toner cartridge 108, a sensor circuit 107 that includes various sensors and peripheral circuits that process signals from the sensors, and replacement parts Toner cartridge 108, which is an example, and detects temperature and / or humidity Constructed and a detection unit 109 that.

  The operation panel 102 includes an operation unit 102a and a display unit 102b. The operation unit 102a receives an operation input by a user and outputs the operation input to the control unit 101. The display unit 102b displays an operation screen and various information. The operation unit 102a and the display unit 102b constitute a touch panel that can perform an input operation on the operation screen.

  Further, the information processing apparatus 200 is, for example, a general-purpose PC (personal computer), and controls the communication unit 201 for connecting to the image forming apparatus 100 via the network N and each function of the information processing apparatus 200. An arithmetic processing unit 202 including a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, and the like, a storage unit 203 such as a hard disk in which a printer driver 203a is installed, an input unit 204 such as a keyboard and a mouse, and a display unit 205 such as a liquid crystal display. It is prepared for. The printer driver 203a is software (program) for controlling the image forming apparatus 100 to execute image forming processing (printing processing). The printer driver 203 a is read from the storage unit 203 by the arithmetic processing unit 202 and executed on the RAM of the arithmetic processing unit 202 when printing is performed.

  The main object of the present invention is to suppress the waste of recording paper due to printing defects such as blurred printing without impairing the convenience of the user even when a non-genuine product is used as a replacement part. As a configuration for this, the image forming apparatus 100 includes a non-genuine product determination unit 101a that determines whether or not a replacement part of the image forming unit 103 is a non-genuine product, and an image formation condition input from an image formation condition input unit. And a control unit 101 that controls the image forming unit 103. When the non-genuine product determination unit 101a determines that the replacement part of the image forming unit 103 is a non-genuine product, the control unit 101 inputs from the image forming condition input unit Among possible image forming conditions, input of a toner save mode in which image formation is performed while suppressing the amount of toner used during image formation is prohibited. The toner save mode is a mode in which the toner usage amount is limited by suppressing the image density and suppressing the toner adhesion amount by about 20 to 30%. It is used.

  The non-genuine product determination unit 101 a is realized as a function of the control unit 101. In addition, the image forming condition input unit includes a copy condition input screen (also referred to as FIG. 7, which will be described later, a copy condition setting screen) displayed on the operation panel 102 (display unit 102b) of the image forming apparatus 100. The printer 200 includes a printing condition input screen (also referred to as FIGS. 8 and 9, which will be described later, or a printing condition setting screen) displayed on the display unit 205 of the apparatus 200.

  In the above, the replacement part is a part that constitutes a part of the apparatus from the viewpoint of function and whose performance can be recovered and maintained by replacement. For example, in the case of the image forming apparatus 100, the toner cartridge (or developing cartridge), the photosensitive member cartridge, the cartridge in which the developing member and the photosensitive member are integrally formed, the ink cartridge, the ink tank, and the print head are integrally formed. A cartridge, a thermal transfer type ink sheet cartridge, and the like correspond to this. These replacement parts may be called supplies. In the description of this embodiment, the toner cartridge 108 is described as an example of a replacement part, but the present invention is not limited to this.

  In FIG. 2, the non-genuine product determination unit 101 a determines whether the toner cartridge 108 attached to the image forming apparatus 100 is a genuine product or a non-genuine product. The non-genuine product determination method is realized using the techniques described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 described above, and conventionally known techniques such as JP-A-2002-202697 and JP-A-2009-145396. The method is not particularly limited. Hereinafter, as a method for determining a non-genuine product by the non-genuine product determination unit 101a, a case where the determination is performed in the image forming apparatus 100 will be described as an example. However, the determination is performed using an external server device or the like. Also good.

  The toner cartridge 108 records unique ID information that can individually identify the toner cartridge 108. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, it is mounted as an IC chip 108a, and ID information is recorded in advance in a nonvolatile memory such as an EEPROM or a ferroelectric memory. Alternatively, this ID information may be configured by a simple method such as a barcode. The ID information may be the manufacturer's identification number or the like because it is sufficient to know that the manufacturer is at least a genuine manufacturer. The reading unit 106 differs depending on the form of the ID information given to the toner cartridge 108. In the case of a barcode, the reading unit 106 is a barcode reader. In the case of an IC chip, the reading unit 106 is constituted by reading means using electrical or high frequency. Is done.

  The storage unit 105 stores ID information of genuine products of the toner cartridge in advance. When the replacement of the toner cartridge 108 is confirmed, the non-genuine product determination unit 101a is read by the reading unit 106. The ID information of the toner cartridge 108 and the genuine product ID information stored in the storage unit 105 are compared to determine whether or not they match. Note that the manufacturer of the image forming apparatus 100 may store all ID information of genuine toner cartridges in the storage unit 105 at the manufacturing stage. When the ID information matches, it is determined as a genuine product, and when the ID information does not match, it is determined as a non-genuine product. It should be noted that some non-genuine products may not be provided with ID information. Therefore, even if the reading unit 106 cannot read the ID information, the product is determined to be a non-genuine product.

  In the above, replacement mounting of the toner cartridge 108 can be detected by the sensor circuit 107. As described above, the sensor circuit 107 includes various sensors and peripheral circuits that process signals from the sensors. The sensor includes a mechanical or optical door sensor and a cartridge sensor. The door sensor is a sensor that detects whether the door of the image forming apparatus 100 is open or closed, and the cartridge sensor is a sensor that detects whether or not the toner cartridge 108 is attached to the image forming apparatus 100. Peripheral circuits include a waveform shaping circuit for shaping the waveform of the sensor output, a filter circuit, a binarization circuit, a voltage level adjustment circuit, and the like. The sensor output is converted into a digital signal having a logic level of, for example, 0-5V. Convert.

  If the sensor circuit 107 detects that the toner cartridge 108 has been replaced, the control unit 101 accesses the IC chip 108a and instructs the reading unit 106 to read the ID information. Then, the non-genuine product determination unit 101a compares the ID information read by the reading unit 106 with the ID information stored in the storage unit 105, thereby determining whether the replaced toner cartridge 108 is a genuine product or not. Judge whether it is a genuine product. In this manner, the non-genuine product determination unit 101a can determine whether the ID information matches or does not match. Even when the reading unit 106 cannot read, it is determined that there is a mismatch, that is, a non-genuine product.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining an example of an image forming method by the image forming apparatus of the present invention. In this example, a case where an ID information read command is generated when the sensor circuit 107 detects the mounting of the toner cartridge 108 based on the configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 in FIG. 2 will be described. First, the control unit 101 determines whether or not an ID information read command from the sensor circuit 107 is generated with the mounting of the toner cartridge 108 (step S11), and determines that an ID information read command is generated (step S11). If YES, the reading unit 106 is instructed to read the ID information of the toner cartridge 108 (step S12). If it is determined in step S11 that no ID information read command has been issued (NO), the process shifts to a standby state in step S11.

  Next, the control unit 101 (non-genuine product determination unit 101a) compares the ID information read by the reading unit 106 with the ID information (registered ID information) stored in the storage unit 105 (step S13). . Then, it is determined whether or not the two match (step S14). If they match (YES), the toner cartridge 108 is determined to be a genuine product, and the image forming apparatus 100 or the information processing apparatus 200 determines whether or not the toner cartridge 108 is predetermined by the user. In accordance with the operation (copy operation or print operation), an input screen for normal image forming conditions in which the toner save mode is not prohibited is displayed (step S15), and the process proceeds to step S18. Then, it is determined whether or not the “OK” button has been pressed on the normal image forming condition input screen (step S18). If it is determined that the “OK” button has been pressed (in the case of YES), a predetermined value by the user is determined. In accordance with an operation (for example, pressing of a copy start button or a print start button), the image forming unit 103 forms an image based on the image forming conditions input in step S15 (step S19). In step S14, if they do not match or cannot be read by the reading unit 106 (in the case of NO), the toner cartridge 108 is determined to be a non-genuine product, and the control unit 101 determines the copy conditions of the image forming apparatus 100. Of the image forming conditions that can be input from the input screen or the printing condition input screen by the printer driver 203a of the information processing apparatus 200, the toner save mode input is prohibited (step S16).

  The determination result in step S14 is transmitted from the image forming apparatus 100 to the information processing apparatus 200 as genuine part determination information. The genuine part determination information is stored in the storage unit 203 of the information processing apparatus 200 and is referred to when the printer driver 203a is activated. Thereby, it is possible to determine whether or not the toner cartridge 108 is a non-genuine product even on the information processing apparatus 200 side. Further, the determination result in step S14 may be stored in the storage unit 105 of the image forming apparatus 100 as genuine part determination information. In this case, when the printer driver 203a is activated in the information processing apparatus 200, the information processing apparatus 200 requests the image forming apparatus 100 to transmit genuine part determination information, and the genuine part determination information is received from the image forming apparatus 100. get. Based on the genuine part determination information acquired from the image forming apparatus 100, the information processing apparatus 200 can determine whether the toner cartridge 108 is a non-genuine product. When it is determined that the toner cartridge 108 is a non-genuine product, the printer driver 203a generates a printing condition input screen in which the toner save mode is prohibited.

  In step S <b> 16, the control unit 101 prohibits the toner save mode input from among the image forming conditions that can be input from the copy condition input screen or the print condition input screen. Specifically, when the image forming conditions are displayed on the copy condition input screen or the print condition input screen so as to be selectable, control is performed so that the toner save mode is not displayed on the screen, or the toner save mode is displayed on the screen. The mode can be controlled to be grayed out. The print condition input screen is generated by the printer driver 203a. The printer driver 203a generates a print condition input screen according to genuine part determination information (determination result) transmitted from the image forming apparatus 100. It is configured.

  Next, in accordance with a predetermined operation by the user, the image forming apparatus 100 or the information processing apparatus 200 displays the image forming condition input screen in which the toner save mode is prohibited in step S16, that is, the display of the image forming apparatus 100 if it is a copy operation. The copy condition input screen is displayed on the unit 102b, and if it is a printing operation, the print condition input screen of the printer driver 203a is displayed on the display unit 205 of the information processing apparatus 200 (step S17). The image forming condition input screen means a copy condition input screen shown in FIG. 7 described later or a printing condition input screen shown in FIGS.

  In step S17, when the input of the toner save mode is prohibited, a message indicating that the toner cartridge 108 is prohibited because the toner cartridge 108 is a non-genuine product is displayed on the image forming condition input screen so that the user can understand the reason. It is desirable to display and notify. Then, in this image forming condition input screen, it is determined whether or not the “OK” button is pressed (step S18). If it is determined that the “OK” button is pressed (YES), a predetermined operation by the user is performed. According to (for example, pressing of a copy start button or a print start button), the image forming unit 103 forms an image based on the image forming condition input in step S17 (step S19). If it is determined in step S18 that the “OK” button is not pressed and the “cancel” button is pressed (NO), the process returns to step S11 and the process is repeated.

  In step S18, if the toner save mode is not displayed on the image forming condition input screen in step S17, the user can press the “cancel” button. In this case, the user recognizes from the notification in step S17 that the toner save mode cannot be set because the toner cartridge 108 is a non-genuine product, so the non-genuine product toner cartridge 108 is made a genuine product. It is conceivable to take measures such as replacement again. When the toner cartridge is replaced with a genuine toner cartridge, the flow of FIG. 4 is executed again, and image formation in the toner save mode can be performed.

  Here, in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 100 includes, for example, a detection unit 109 that detects temperature and / or humidity in an environment where the image forming apparatus 100 is installed. When it is determined that the toner cartridge 108 is a non-genuine product and the temperature and / or humidity detected by the detection unit 109 is not within the predetermined range, the control unit 101 can input from the image forming condition input screen. It is also possible to prohibit all input of image forming conditions so that the image forming process cannot be executed. When the toner cartridge 108 is a non-genuine product, it is difficult to perform a good image forming process under a high temperature / high humidity exceeding a predetermined range or a low temperature / low humidity environment. Accordingly, by prohibiting all input of image forming conditions, useless image forming processing is prevented from being executed. In this case as well, it is desirable to notify the user of the reason why the image forming process cannot be executed and to urge the user to replace the toner cartridge with a genuine product.

  Hereinafter, a screen transition example of the operation panel 102 (display unit 102b) in the copy process of the image forming apparatus 100 will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an appearance of the operation panel 102 provided in the image forming apparatus 100. As described above, the operation panel 102 includes the operation unit 102a and the display unit 102b, and the display unit 102b is a touch panel. In the case of the image forming apparatus 100, the image forming condition input unit includes a copy condition input screen displayed on the display unit 102b and a touch panel. The display unit 102b can accept an input by a user's touch operation via the touch panel.

  When copying, when the user presses the copy mode selection button 141 of the operation unit 102a, an initial screen in the copy mode as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed on the display unit 102b. In the initial screen of FIG. 6, a layout image showing the outline of the apparatus is displayed at the center of the screen, and the sizes of the recording sheets set in the paper feed cassettes 1 to 4 and the manual feed tray are displayed. In the screen example of FIG. 6, the paper feed cassette 1 that stores A4 paper is selected by default.

  When the user touches the “various settings” button 142 on the screen of FIG. 6, a setting item selection screen as shown in FIG. 7A is displayed. FIG. 7A shows an example of a screen when the toner cartridge 108 is a genuine product, and the toner save mode 143 is displayed in a selectable manner. In FIG. 7A, when the user selects the toner save mode 143 and presses an “OK” button 144, the toner save mode is set and the screen returns to the initial screen of FIG. When the “Cancel” button 145 is pressed, the initial screen shown in FIG. 6 is returned without setting the toner save mode.

  Next, an example of a copy condition input screen according to the present invention is shown in FIG. When the user touches the “various settings” button 142 from the initial screen in FIG. 6 described above, a setting item selection screen as shown in FIG. 7B is displayed. FIG. 7B shows a screen display example when the toner cartridge 108 is a non-genuine product. In the screen example of FIG. 7B, the toner save mode 143 is not displayed among the image forming conditions displayed in FIG. 7A and cannot be selected. Note that the toner save mode 143 may be grayed out to be disabled. That is, the control unit 101 performs control so that the toner save mode 143 is not displayed or grayed out on the screen when the copy condition is displayed to be selectable on the copy condition input screen. In the screen example of FIG. 7B, for example, a message 146 “Toner save mode cannot be set because the toner cartridge is non-genuine” is displayed to notify the user of the reason why the toner save mode cannot be selected. Is done.

  If the user wants to set the toner save mode while the screen of FIG. 7B is displayed, touching the “Cancel” button 145 of FIG. 7B transitions to the initial screen of FIG. When the user replaces the non-genuine toner cartridge 108 with a genuine product, the flow described above with reference to FIG. 4 is executed again, and the toner save mode can be set.

  Next, a print processing example by the image forming system including the image forming apparatus 100 and the information processing apparatus 200 will be described. In FIG. 2 described above, the image forming apparatus 100 includes the communication unit 104 that transmits the determination result by the non-genuine product determination unit 101a to the information processing device 200. When the determination result from the image forming apparatus 100 is a non-genuine product, the printer driver 203a of the information processing apparatus 200 inputs toner save mode among the image forming conditions that can be input from the print condition input screen of the printer driver 203a. Is prohibited. In the case of the information processing apparatus 200, the image forming condition input unit includes a print condition input screen displayed on the display unit 205 by the printer driver 203a and an input unit 204 that receives an input operation from the user.

  In the above description, the determination result by the non-genuine product determination unit 101a is transmitted from the image forming apparatus 100 to the information processing apparatus 200 as genuine part determination information. The genuine part determination information is stored in the storage unit 203 of the information processing apparatus 200 and is referred to when the printer driver 203a is activated. Thereby, it is possible to determine whether or not the toner cartridge 108 is a non-genuine product even on the information processing apparatus 200 side. The determination result by the non-genuine product determination unit 101a may be stored in the storage unit 105 of the image forming apparatus 100 as genuine part determination information. In this case, when the printer driver 203a is activated in the information processing apparatus 200, the information processing apparatus 200 requests the image forming apparatus 100 to transmit genuine part determination information, and the genuine part determination information is received from the image forming apparatus 100. get. Based on the genuine part determination information acquired from the image forming apparatus 100, the information processing apparatus 200 can determine whether the toner cartridge 108 is a non-genuine product.

  Hereinafter, a screen example of the printer driver 203a of the information processing apparatus 200 in the printing process of the image forming apparatus 100 will be described. 8 and 9 are diagrams illustrating an example of a printing condition input screen displayed by the printer driver 203a of the information processing apparatus 200. FIG. The screen example in FIG. 8 shows a screen display example when the toner cartridge 108 is a genuine product. In FIG. 8, the toner save mode 206 is displayed so as to be settable. When a check mark is added to the check column and the “OK” button is pressed, the toner save mode is set. The screen example of FIG. 9 shows a screen display example when the toner cartridge 108 is a non-genuine product. In FIG. 9, the toner save mode 206 displayed in FIG. 8 is not displayed so that it cannot be selected. In this case as well, the toner save mode 206 may be grayed out and cannot be selected. In the screen example of FIG. 9, for example, a message 207 “Toner save mode cannot be set because the toner cartridge is non-genuine” is displayed in order to notify the user of the reason why the toner save mode cannot be selected.

  When the toner save mode is set on the print condition input screen of the printer driver 203a or the copy condition input screen of the operation panel 102, the toner deposited on the photosensitive drum is reduced to form an electrostatic latent image. The developing bias or the charge amount of the photosensitive drum is reduced. Further, it is necessary to perform primary transfer in which the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt, and secondary transfer in which the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt is transferred to the recording paper. However, when a non-genuine product is used as a replacement part of the image forming unit, it cannot be guaranteed that an optimum image can be obtained with the same bias setting as that of a genuine product in the toner save mode. In contrast, in the present invention, when a non-genuine product is used, it is possible to prevent the recording paper from being wasted by prohibiting the input of the toner save mode.

  As described above, according to the present invention, when it is determined that a non-genuine product is used as a replacement part such as a toner cartridge, by prohibiting the input of the toner save mode among the input image forming conditions, It can prevent printing defects such as faint printing, fine lines such as ruled lines and underlines, small symbols such as commas, periods, decimal points, mazes, colons, semicolons, etc. It is possible to suppress waste of the recording paper due to defects.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Exposure unit, 2 ... Developing device, 3 ... Photoconductor drum, 4 ... Cleaner unit, 5 ... Charger, 6 ... Intermediate transfer belt unit, 7 ... Fixing unit, 10 ... Transfer roller, 11a, 11b ... Pickup roller, 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d ... conveying roller, 13 ... registration roller, 61 ... intermediate transfer belt, 62 ... intermediate transfer belt driving roller, 63 ... intermediate transfer belt driven roller, 64 ... intermediate transfer roller, 65 ... intermediate transfer belt cleaning Unit: 71 ... Heat roller, 72 ... Pressure roller, 73 ... External heating belt, 81 ... Paper feed cassette, 82 ... Manual paper feed cassette, 90 ... Image reading means, 91 ... Paper discharge tray, 92 ... Document placement table, 93 ... Light source unit, 94 ... Mirror unit, 95 ... CCD, 100 ... Image forming apparatus, 101 ... Control unit, 101a ... Non Authentic product determination unit, 102 ... operation panel, 102a ... operation unit, 102b, 205 ... display unit, 103 ... image forming unit, 104, 201 ... communication unit, 105, 203 ... storage unit, 106 ... reading unit, 107 ... sensor circuit , 108... Toner cartridge, 108 a. IC chip, 109... Detection unit, 120... Automatic document processing apparatus, 130.

Claims (10)

An image forming unit that forms an image, a non-genuine product determining unit that determines whether or not a replacement part of the image forming unit is a non-genuine product, and the image forming unit according to an image forming condition input from an image forming condition input unit An image forming apparatus comprising a control unit for controlling
When the replacement part of the image forming unit is determined to be a non-genuine product by the non-genuine product determination unit, the control unit includes a toner at the time of image formation among the image formation conditions that can be input from the image formation condition input unit. An image forming apparatus, wherein input of a toner save mode for performing image formation while suppressing use amount is prohibited.   2. The image according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the toner save mode to be hidden when the image forming condition input unit displays the image forming condition in a selectable manner. Forming equipment.   2. The image formation according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the toner save mode to be grayed out when the image formation condition input unit displays the image formation condition in a selectable manner. apparatus.   4. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein when the input of the toner save mode is prohibited, the control unit notifies that the replacement part of the image forming unit is prohibited because it is a non-genuine product. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.   A detection unit for detecting temperature and / or humidity; the replacement part of the image forming unit is determined to be a non-genuine product; and the temperature and / or humidity detected by the detection unit is not within a predetermined range In this case, the control unit prohibits all input of image forming conditions that can be input from the image forming condition input unit, and cannot perform the image forming process. The image forming apparatus described in the item.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming condition input unit includes a copy condition input screen displayed on an operation panel of the image forming apparatus.   The image forming apparatus is connected to an information processing apparatus in which a printer driver is installed via a network, and the image forming condition input unit displays a print condition input screen of the printer driver displayed on the display unit of the information processing apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an image forming apparatus. An image forming unit that forms an image, a non-genuine product determining unit that determines whether or not a replacement part of the image forming unit is a non-genuine product, and the image forming unit according to an image forming condition input from an image forming condition input unit An image forming method by an image forming apparatus comprising a control unit for controlling
The non-genuine product determination unit determines whether or not the replacement part of the image forming unit is a non-genuine product;
When the control unit determines that the product is a non-genuine product in the determination step, among the image forming conditions that can be input from the image forming condition input unit, toner that performs image formation while suppressing the amount of toner used during image formation An input prohibition step that prohibits input in save mode,
An image forming method comprising: an image forming step in which the image forming unit forms an image based on an image forming condition in which a toner save mode is prohibited in the input prohibiting step. An image forming system in which an information processing apparatus in which a printer driver is installed and an image forming apparatus controlled by the printer driver are connected via a network,
The image forming apparatus includes: an image forming unit that forms an image; a non-genuine product determination unit that determines whether or not a replacement part of the image forming unit is a non-genuine product; A communication unit for transmitting to the processing device,
When the determination result from the image forming apparatus is a non-genuine product, the printer driver of the information processing apparatus uses toner at the time of image formation among the image forming conditions that can be input from the print condition input screen of the printer driver. An image forming system that prohibits input of a toner save mode for performing image formation while suppressing the amount.   A printer driver that can be installed in an information processing apparatus constituting the image forming system according to claim 9.

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