JP5921594B2 - Printing apparatus, printing apparatus control method, and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a printing apparatus , a printing apparatus control method, and a program.

In general, a printing apparatus such as an image forming apparatus includes a plurality of paper feed stages (for example, paper feed cassettes), and selectively selects recording paper (hereinafter also referred to as paper or sheet) from these paper feed cassettes. Some are designed to automatically feed paper. Furthermore, there is also an image forming apparatus provided with a so-called manual feed tray that is one of the paper feed stages separately from the paper feed cassette. When paper is fed using the manual feed tray, a so-called free size can be set as the paper size. The free size refers to an irregular size in which the user does not specify the vertical and horizontal lengths of the recording paper.

  When the free size is set, the image forming apparatus feeds paper from the manual feed tray when image data having a size other than the size of the paper set in the paper feed cassette (hereinafter referred to as an irregular size) is received. Print on paper.

  By the way, when printing using paper of an irregular size, especially in an image forming apparatus that performs color printing (hereinafter also referred to as a color machine), the user specifies the lengths in the vertical and horizontal directions of the paper. There is a need to. Hereinafter, the irregular size in which the user specifies the vertical and horizontal lengths will be referred to as a user-defined size.

  If printing is performed without specifying the user-defined size and the paper size is unknown, for example, when the image size is larger than the paper size, the developer (toner) is increased by the amount exceeding the paper size. It will be scattered in the image forming apparatus. In addition, the toner scattering may cause a defective image.

  In addition, in an image forming apparatus for monochrome (monochrome) printing (hereinafter also referred to as a monochrome machine), toner scattering may occur as in a color machine. However, in general, a monochrome machine takes less time to form an image than a color machine. Therefore, the vertical and horizontal lengths are not specified for an irregular size, and toner scattering occurs even if the paper size is determined by automatic detection. It can be kept low. Therefore, the influence on the image quality is small for the monochrome machine because of less toner scattering.

  Therefore, in the monochrome machine, image formation is not performed by allowing the user to specify the irregular size without specifying the vertical and horizontal lengths (that is, without specifying the user-defined size). Executed. Note that the above-mentioned free size refers to an irregular size in which the vertical and horizontal lengths are not specified.

  However, although it is possible to prevent toner scattering by specifying a user-defined size, it is necessary to change the user-defined size specification each time the image size changes in order to prevent toner scattering accurately. is there. For this reason, the designation and change are extremely complicated for the user.

  On the other hand, as described above, when a free size is designated in a color machine, toner scattering may occur when the image size changes.

  In order to prevent such toner scattering, for example, the specification of a free size is permitted for monochrome printing where the possibility of toner scattering is small, and the user-defined size is specified for color printing. There are some (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2004-4622 A

  By the way, in recent years, an image forming apparatus capable of feeding irregular-sized paper from not only a manual feed tray but also a normal paper feeding tray in response to a request to handle various sizes of irregular-sized paper. is there. In such an image forming apparatus, it is possible to set different sizes of irregular sizes for a plurality of paper feed trays.

  On the other hand, in printing by a command from the host computer, not only a color image and a black and white image are usually mixed, but also images of a plurality of different sizes may be mixed. For this reason, in the image forming apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-294707, even when an irregular size image of a different size exists in one print job in a monochrome image, all images are handled as free size images. . As a result, there is a problem that it is not possible to feed an optimum size sheet for each irregular size image.

  In the case of an image forming apparatus in which both a free size and a user-defined size can be specified, the user-defined size is generally given priority. For this reason, even if paper of a free size is once fed from the manual feed tray and printed, if there is no paper in the manual feed tray and there is paper set in the user-defined size in the paper feed tray, the paper feed tray Paper is fed from the beginning. As a result, the paper size changes in the middle of one print job.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a user-defined display having the same vertical and horizontal lengths when a sheet shortage occurs after starting printing using a sheet fed from a sheet holding unit having a user- defined size. Increased productivity by switching to another sheet holding unit with a set size to continue printing, and lack of sheets after starting printing using a sheet fed from a sheet holding unit with a free size set Therefore, a mechanism for preventing an image from being printed on a sheet having a size contrary to the user's intention by switching to another sheet holding unit and not allowing printing to continue is provided. .

In order to achieve the above object, a printing apparatus of the present invention is a printing apparatus having a plurality of sheet holding means for holding sheets of a standard size or a non-standard size, and the vertical and horizontal lengths are input by a user. A first setting unit that sets a user-defined size indicating the vertical and horizontal lengths for at least one of the plurality of sheet holding units, and the vertical and horizontal lengths are input by the user. A second setting unit that sets a free size indicating that the vertical and horizontal lengths are not specified when at least one of the plurality of sheet holding units is not, and among the plurality of sheet holding units, When the sheet shortage occurs after starting printing using the sheet fed from the selected sheet holding unit, the first setting unit causes the selected sheet holding unit to If the user-defined size is set, the user-defined size indicating the same vertical and horizontal lengths can be switched to the other sheet holding means set by the first setting means and printing can be continued. And a control unit that controls to not allow the selected sheet holding unit to switch to another sheet holding unit and continue printing if a free size is set by the second setting unit. It is characterized by that.

According to the present invention, when a sheet shortage occurs after starting printing using a sheet fed from a sheet holding unit in which a user-defined size is set , the user-defined size indicating the same vertical and horizontal length is obtained. Switch to another set of sheet holding means and continue printing to improve productivity, and sheet shortage occurs after starting printing using a sheet fed from a sheet holding means with a free size set Then, it is possible to prevent an image from being printed on a sheet having a size contrary to the user's intention by not allowing switching to another sheet holding unit and continuing printing .

1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining a configuration of a control circuit used in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a manual paper feed stage provided in the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a paper size setting screen displayed on an operation unit provided in the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 2. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a user-defined size setting screen displayed on an operation unit 205 provided in the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 2. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a paper feed stage setting screen displayed on an operation unit provided in the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 2. 3 is a flowchart for explaining a first example of an operation when an irregularly sized sheet is automatically selected and fed in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1. 3 is a flowchart for explaining an example of an operation when there is no more irregular size paper in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1. 6 is a flowchart for explaining a second example of an operation when automatically selecting and feeding an irregular-size sheet in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

Hereinafter, a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a configuration of a printing apparatus (hereinafter referred to as an image forming apparatus) 100 according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

  Referring to FIG. 1, an illustrated image forming apparatus 100 is a color image forming apparatus capable of performing color printing. The image forming apparatus 100 includes a digital color image reader unit (hereinafter simply referred to as a reader unit) 150 and a digital color image printer unit (hereinafter simply referred to as a printer unit) 170. The reader unit 150 configures the upper part of the casing, and the printer unit 170 configures the lower part of the casing.

  The reader unit 150 includes an original table glass 101, a scanner 102, scanning mirrors 105 and 106, a lens 107, and a full color image sensor unit 108. A document table glass 101 is used as a document table on which a document is placed. A scanner 102 includes a document illumination lamp 103 and a scanning mirror 104.

  The scanner 102 is driven by a motor (not shown) and reciprocates in a predetermined direction (left and right direction in the figure) to scan the document. The document illumination lamp 103 is a lamp that emits light for irradiating the document. The scanning mirrors 104 to 106 and the lens 107 guide the reflected light image of the light emitted from the document illumination lamp 103 to the image sensor unit 108. The image sensor unit 108 is integrally formed with the RGB three-color separation filter and includes a CCD sensor.

  When scanning the document placed on the document table glass 101, the scanner 102 moves along a predetermined direction, and the reflected light images of the light irradiated on the document by the document illumination lamp 103 are scanned mirrors 104 to 106. The lens 107 is passed through. Then, a reflected light image is formed on the CCD sensor in the image sensor unit 108.

  As a result, the CCD sensor obtains a color separation image analog signal. As will be described later, the color-separated image analog signal is digitized (converted into image data) through an amplifier circuit in a CCD sensor.

  The printer unit 170 has an image forming unit 110. The image forming unit 110 includes an exposure control unit 109, a photosensitive drum 111, a cleaning device 112, a pre-exposure lamp 113, a primary charger 114, a black developer 115, a rotary developer 116, an intermediate transfer belt 117, and a primary transfer charger. 118 is provided.

  The exposure control unit 109 includes a laser beam generation unit and a polygon scanner. The exposure control unit 109 generates a laser beam 120 that is converted into an electrical signal by the image sensor unit 108 of the reader unit 150 and further modulated based on an image signal that has been subjected to predetermined image processing. Irradiate the photosensitive drum 111 which is an image carrier.

  The photosensitive drum 111 is rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow in the figure by a motor (not shown). First, the photosensitive drum 111 is discharged by the pre-exposure lamp 113 and then uniformly charged to a predetermined potential by the primary charger 114. Thereafter, the photosensitive drum 111 is irradiated with a laser beam 120 emitted from the exposure control unit 109 to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface thereof.

  The electrostatic latent image formed on the photoconductive drum 111 is developed by operating a predetermined developing device to form a toner image. The illustrated rotary developing unit 116 includes developing units 122, 123, and 124 corresponding to yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C) colors.

  When forming a color image when forming a toner image on the photosensitive drum 111, the rotating developer 116 is rotated by a motor (not shown), and the developing device 122 according to each separation color to be developed. ˜124 are alternatively brought close to the photosensitive drum 111.

  In developing black, a black developing device 115 disposed in the vicinity of the photosensitive drum 111 is used. In forming a monochrome (monochrome) image, only the black developing device 115 is used.

  The toner image on the photosensitive drum 111 is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 117 by the high voltage applied by the primary transfer charger 118. When forming a color image, four color toner images are transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 117 in an overlapping manner. When forming a monochrome image, only the monochrome toner image is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 117.

  In the illustrated image forming apparatus 100, when a recording sheet (also referred to as a sheet or a sheet) of 1/2 or less of the entire circumference of the intermediate transfer belt 117 is used, the intermediate transfer belt 117 corresponding to two sheets is used. Images can be formed simultaneously on the upper region. After the completion of the primary transfer, residual toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 111 is removed by the cleaning device 112, and the image forming process is performed again.

  The printer unit 170 further includes a secondary transfer charger 138, a paper transport belt 139, a fixing device 140, a paper discharge flapper 141, a right cassette deck 125, a left cassette deck 126, an upper cassette deck 127, and a lower cassette deck 128. ing. That is, the printer unit 170 includes a plurality of cassette decks. Then, as will be described later, paper is selectively fed from the cassette decks 125 to 128.

  The cassette decks 125 to 128 each store sheets, and the toner images formed on the intermediate transfer belt 117 are transferred to the sheets fed from the cassette decks 125 to 128 as described later.

  The paper stored in the right cassette deck 125 is fed to the paper feed path 145A by the pickup roller 129 and the paper feed roller 133. Then, the sheet is conveyed by a registration roller 137 to a secondary transfer position where the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 117 is transferred to the sheet.

  Similarly, the paper stored in the left cassette deck 126 is fed to the paper feed path 145 by the pickup roller 130 and the paper feed roller 134.

  The paper stored in the upper cassette deck 127 is fed to the paper feed path 145A by the pickup roller 131 and the paper feed roller 135. The paper 128 stored in the lower cassette deck 128 is fed to the paper feed path 145A by the pickup roller 132 and the paper feed roller 136. These sheets are conveyed to a secondary transfer position by a registration roller 137.

  The paper can be fed from a manual paper feed tray (manual tray) 160. When image formation is performed on OHP paper, irregular-size paper, or other paper that is used less frequently, the paper is mainly fed from the manual paper feed stage 160.

  The manual paper feed stage 160 is provided with a guide 162 for feeding the paper straight to the printer unit 170 by the paper feed roller 161.

  A paper detection sensor 180 is disposed in front of the registration roller 137. Depending on the time during which the paper is detected by the paper detection sensor 180 (detection time), an approximate size can be obtained with respect to the feeding direction of the fed paper. Therefore, when feeding an irregular size paper, the approximate size in the vertical and horizontal directions of the paper can be calculated.

  When paper of an irregular size is fed without specifying the vertical and horizontal lengths, the paper size of the first fed paper is calculated. Further, when an image is formed on the second and subsequent sheets, a laser which will be described later is used so that unnecessary portions (if any) of the image data are not exposed during exposure based on the calculated sheet size. Control is performed by the unit 204.

  After the toner image is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 117 in the image forming unit 110, the sheet conveyed from the cassette decks 125 to 128 is conveyed by the registration roller 137 to the secondary transfer roller 138 disposed at the secondary transfer position. The

  At the secondary transfer position, the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 117 is transferred to the paper (secondary transfer). After the completion of the secondary transfer, residual toner remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 117 is removed by the cleaning device 121. Thereafter, the image forming process is executed again.

  After the secondary transfer, the sheet is conveyed to the fixing device 140 by the conveyance belt 139. The paper is then pressed and heated by a heat roller type fixing device 140, and the toner image transferred onto the paper is fixed. Thereafter, the sheet is discharged to the outside of the image forming apparatus 100 by a discharge roller 148.

  Note that the image forming apparatus 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 has a double-sided printing function. In the duplex printing mode, the paper discharge flapper 141 is switched, and the paper is once transported to the reverse path 143 by the transport roller 142. Thereafter, the sheet is inserted from the reverse path 143 into the transport path 144 and is transported through the paper feed path 145 by the rollers 146. Then, the sheet reaches the secondary transfer position, and image formation is performed on the back side of the sheet. Thereafter, the sheet passes through the fixing device 140 and is discharged to the outside of the image forming apparatus 100 by the discharge roller 148.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of a control circuit (control unit) 201 used in the image forming apparatus 100 shown in FIG.

  Referring to FIG. 2, the control unit 201 is electrically connected to the reader unit 150 and the printer unit 170. The control unit 201 includes a CPU 202, an HDD (hard disk drive) 203, a network I / F 204, an operation unit 205, a RAM 206, and a ROM 207.

  The CPU 202 activates the system of the image forming apparatus 100 based on a boot program stored in the ROM 207. Then, the CPU 202 reads various control programs stored in the HDD 203 or the like on this system, and executes various processes using the RAM 206 as a work area. The HDD 203 stores image data and the like together with the various control programs.

  The operation unit 205 includes a liquid crystal panel (not shown). When the user touches the liquid crystal panel with a finger or the like, the liquid crystal panel recognizes the instruction content based on position information on the screen of the touched portion. It has a function. Further, the operation unit 205 includes hard keys such as a numeric keypad and a start key. The operation unit 205 displays the status of the image forming apparatus 100 and the like.

  The network I / F 204 is connected to the host computer 208 via the network 209, and a print job from the host computer 208 is sent to the image forming apparatus 100 via the network I / F 204.

  Although not shown, the right cassette deck 125, the left cassette deck 126, the upper cassette deck 127, the lower cassette deck 128, and the manual paper feed stage 160 have paper detection sensors (detection switches) for detecting the presence or absence of paper. ) Is arranged. These paper detection sensors are connected to the control unit 201 and notify the control unit 201 of the presence or absence of paper. The CPU 202 knows the presence or absence of paper according to the notification from the detection sensor.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of the manual paper feed stage 160 provided in the image forming apparatus 100 shown in FIG.

  FIG. 3 shows a configuration in which the manual paper feed stage 160 is viewed from above. The manual paper feed stage 160 is a sheet of paper placed on the manual paper feed stage 160 by the paper feed roller 161. Feed paper one by one. The manual paper feed stage 160 has a guide 162 for feeding the paper straight to the printer unit 170. The guide 162 can be manually moved along the rail 301 in the vertical direction in FIG. The width 303 is automatically detected as the width of the paper placed in the manual paper feed stage 160 by a width detection sensor (not shown).

  FIG. 4 is a view showing an example of a paper size setting screen displayed on the operation unit 205 provided in the image forming apparatus 100 shown in FIG. In the following description, the size specified by the user for the length in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction in the irregular size is referred to as a user-defined size. The free size refers to a non-standard size that does not specify vertical and horizontal lengths.

  Referring to FIG. 4, the illustrated paper size setting screen is displayed on the liquid crystal panel of operation unit 205 shown in FIG. A standard paper selection key group 401 is displayed on the paper size setting screen. When selecting a predefined paper in the image forming apparatus 100, a standard paper size can be set in the manual paper feed stage 160 by selecting one of the standard paper selection key group 401.

  Furthermore, a free size setting key 402 is displayed on the paper size setting screen. This free size setting key 402 is pressed when setting a free size, which is an indeterminate size in which vertical and horizontal lengths are not input, to the manual paper feed stage 160. When the free size is set, the length in the vertical direction is automatically detected by the width 303 of the guide 162 shown in FIG. 3 when the paper is placed on the manual paper feed stage 160. As described above, when the first sheet is fed, the time passing through the sheet detection sensor 180 is measured to automatically detect the lateral length. As a result, the vertical and horizontal lengths of the irregular-size paper placed on the manual paper feed stage 160 are determined for the second and subsequent sheets.

  Further, a user setting size key 403 is displayed on the paper size setting screen. The user setting size key 403 is used when the user inputs numerical values for the vertical and horizontal lengths of the irregular size paper placed on the manual paper feed stage 160. In the illustrated example, a non-standard size paper whose vertical and horizontal lengths are set by the user setting size key 403 is referred to as a user-defined size paper. When the user setting size key 403 is pressed, the screen shifts to an input screen (FIG. 5) for inputting vertical and horizontal lengths.

  In addition, a transition key 404 for transitioning to the next screen is displayed on the paper size setting screen. Here, the next screen is not shown, but when the transition key 404 is pressed, the screen transitions to a screen for setting the paper type or the like.

  In the image forming apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1, it is possible to store irregular-size paper in the cassette decks 127 and 128. When the irregular size paper is stored in at least one of the cassette decks 127 and 128, the irregular size paper is set on the same screen as the paper size setting screen described in FIG.

  However, for the cassette decks 127 and 128, the free size cannot be set here, and the only customizable size that can be set is the user-defined size. For this reason, the screen (that is, the paper size setting screen) displayed when setting the paper sheets of the cassette decks 127 and 128 and the free size setting key 402 shown in FIG. 4 are not displayed.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a user-defined size setting screen displayed on the operation unit 205 provided in the image forming apparatus 100 shown in FIG.

  Referring to FIG. 5, the illustrated user-defined size setting screen is displayed on the liquid crystal panel of operation unit 205 shown in FIG. A user-defined size setting screen is used when setting a user-defined size for a paper feed stage. In this screen, when setting the vertical and horizontal sizes of the paper, the length in the horizontal direction is input to the horizontal size portion 501 using the numeric keypad 503. Similarly, the length in the vertical direction is input to the vertical size portion 502 using the numeric keypad 503. Accordingly, user-defined sizes can be set in the manual paper feed stage 160 and the cassette decks 127 and 128 shown in FIG.

  In the illustrated example, the user-defined size is specified in millimeters, but other units such as inch units may be used. A user-defined size one-touch key 504 is displayed on the user-defined size setting screen. By using the user-defined size one-touch key 504, up to five user-defined sizes set in the horizontal size unit 501 and the vertical size unit 502 can be registered in the control unit 201 (FIG. 2). When any one of the user-defined size one-touch keys 504 is pressed, the user-defined size registered in the control unit 201 is called.

  Further, an OK key 505 and a setting cancel key 506 are displayed on the user-defined size setting screen. The OK key 505 is pressed when the user-defined size set on the user-defined size setting screen is confirmed. When the setting cancel key is pressed, the control unit 201 invalidates the user-defined size set on the user-defined size setting screen and displays the screen before the user-defined size setting screen on the liquid crystal panel.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a paper feed stage setting screen for setting a paper feed stage that is a target of automatic paper selection displayed on the operation unit 205 provided in the image forming apparatus 100 shown in FIG. .

  Referring to FIG. 6, the illustrated paper feed stage setting screen is displayed on the liquid crystal panel of operation unit 205 shown in FIG. Here, automatic paper selection refers to automatically selecting an optimal paper size from the paper feed stage according to the image size of the image data input to the image forming apparatus 100 (or read by the image forming apparatus). It is to feed paper. In automatic paper selection, when the vertical and horizontal lengths match the standard size, the standard size is handled, and when the size does not match the standard size, the non-standard size is handled.

  In the paper feed stage setting screen, a selection key 601 can be used to set whether or not the paper feed stage is set as an automatic paper selection target paper feed stage for each paper feed stage included in the image forming apparatus 100. . When the selection key 601 is set to ON (on), the paper feed stage is a target for automatic paper selection. When image data for which a paper feed stage is not specified is input to the image forming apparatus 100, it is checked whether or not the paper stored in the paper feed stage is the optimum size. .

  On the other hand, when the selection key 601 is set to OFF (off), the paper feed stage is not subject to automatic paper selection, and paper is automatically fed from that paper feed stage unless the paper feed stage is specified. There is no paper.

  When the OK key 602 is pressed on the paper feed stage setting screen, the setting of the paper feed stage that is the target of automatic paper selection performed on the screen is confirmed. Also, when the cancel key 603 is pressed, the setting of the paper feed stage that is the target of automatic paper selection set on the paper feed setting screen is invalidated, and the screen returns to the previous screen.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining a first example of an operation when the irregularly sized paper is automatically selected and fed in the image forming apparatus 100 shown in FIG.

  Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, and 7, the flow shown in FIG. 7 is executed for each page of image data input to image forming apparatus 100. In particular, in a print job received from the host computer 208, the paper size, paper type, and paper feed stage can be designated for each page. For this reason, it is necessary to determine the optimum paper size for each page.

  In the automatic paper size selection of the irregular size, the CPU 202 recognizes that the next image to be printed is an irregular size (step S701). Subsequently, the CPU 202 sets a paper feed stage to be subjected to automatic paper selection set in the paper feed setting screen (FIG. 6) for a paper of an irregular size having the same vertical and horizontal length as the irregular size. Search is performed (step S702). If there is no paper feed stage in which an irregular size paper having the same vertical and horizontal length as the paper specified in the page included in the print job does not exist (NO in step S702), the CPU 202 advances to S703. Proceed with the process. In S703, the CPU 202 determines whether or not the manual paper feed stage 160 is set as a paper feed stage that is a target for automatic paper selection on the screen shown in FIG. 6, for example (Step S703).

  If manual paper feed stage 160 is set as a paper feed stage that is a target for automatic paper selection (YES in step S703), CPU 202 determines whether or not the paper set in manual paper feed stage 160 is a free size. (Step S704). If the paper set in the manual paper feed stage 160 is a free size (YES in step S704), the CPU 202 controls the printer unit 170 to feed the free size paper from the manual paper feed stage 160 (step S704). Step S705).

  Thereafter, the CPU 202 stores the irregular-size paper fed in step S706 and the paper feed stage in the HDD 203 (step S706), and ends the processing for one page.

  In step S702, if there is a paper feed stage in which irregular-size paper sheets having the same vertical and horizontal length are stored (YES in step S702), the CPU 202 advances the process to step S707. In step S <b> 707, the CPU 202 controls the printer unit 170 to feed user-defined size paper from the paper feed stage. In step S706, the CPU 202 stores the user-defined size paper fed in step 708 and the paper feed tray in the HDD 203, and ends the processing for one page.

  In step S703, if the manual paper feed stage 160 is not set as a paper feed stage that is a target for automatic paper selection (NO in step S703), the CPU 202 advances the process to step S708. In S708, the CPU 202 displays a screen indicating that there is no optimal paper size (screen without optimal size) on the liquid crystal panel of the operation unit 205 (Step S708), and ends the processing for one page. Note that an optimal user-defined size is displayed on the screen with no optimal size.

  If the paper set in the manual paper feed stage 160 is not a free size in step S704 (NO in step S704), the CPU 202 advances the process to step S708. In step S <b> 708, the CPU 202 displays a screen with no optimal size on the liquid crystal panel of the operation unit 205 and ends the processing for one page.

  As described above, in the flow described with reference to FIG. 7, the designated irregular size and the supplied irregular size paper, the paper feed stage, and the HDD 203 are stored. Therefore, in the same print job, if there is an irregular size having the same vertical length and the same horizontal length, the CPU 202 may feed paper from the same paper feed stage. Part of the flow shown in FIG. 7 can be omitted.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining an example of an operation when there is no irregular-size paper in the image forming apparatus 100 shown in FIG. The process shown in FIG. 8 is executed in FIG. 7 when paper of an irregular size stored in the HDD 203 is to be fed and there is no paper in the paper feed stage corresponding to the paper.

  Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, and 8, CPU 202 detects that there is no non-standard size paper stored in HDD 203. That is, it is assumed that no paper has occurred (step S801). Subsequently, the CPU 202 determines whether or not a paper feed stage is designated for the image data to be printed (step S802). Here, the designation of the paper feed stage means designation for feeding paper of a designated size from the designated paper feed stage without specifying automatic paper selection by specifying the paper size and paper feed stage. .

  If no paper feed stage is specified (NO in step S802), the CPU 202 determines whether or not the paper size stored in the HDD 203 is a free size (step S803). If the paper size stored in the HDD 203 is not a free size (NO in step S803), the CPU 202 searches whether there are optimum vertical and horizontal paper sizes for other automatic paper target paper feed stages (step S804). If there is a sheet of an optimal size (YES in step S804), the CPU 202 controls the printer unit 170 to feed the sheet from the sheet feeding stage (step S805). Then, the CPU 202 ends the processing for one page.

  If a paper feed stage is specified in step S802 (YES in step S802), the CPU 202 displays “no paper” on the liquid crystal panel of the operation unit 205 (step S806), and the designated paper feed. The user is urged to replenish paper in the tray. The designated paper feed tray (the paper feed tray in which no paper has occurred) originally contained the optimum size paper, and this is displayed on the liquid crystal panel to prompt the user to replenish the paper. Become. Then, the CPU 202 ends the processing for one page.

  Similarly, in step S803, if the paper size stored in HDD 203 is a free size (YES in step S803), CPU 202 proceeds to step S806 to indicate “no paper” on the liquid crystal panel of operation unit 205. To display.

  Here, once paper feeding is started at a free size, even if a user-defined size paper optimal for another paper feed stage is stored, the free size paper will continue to be fed. However, if the processing described in step S803 is performed, if the paper size is a free size, it is possible to prevent printing from being performed on paper of a different size with respect to the same irregular size in the middle of the print job. it can.

  In step S804, if there is no optimally sized sheet (NO in step S804), the CPU 202 proceeds to step S806 and displays “no sheet” on the liquid crystal panel of the operation unit 205.

  By performing the control as described above, it is possible to prevent a printed matter not intended by the user from being output. Specifically, when a user wants to print an image using one kind of irregular-size paper, two or more kinds of prints are output when a print job is executed. It is possible to prevent the use of standard size paper.

(Second Embodiment)
In the first embodiment described above, if there is no irregular size paper of the optimum size for the paper feed stage and a free size is specified in the manual paper feed stage 160, the CPU 202 always supplies the manual paper. Free-size paper is fed from the stage 160.

  In this case, if there are irregular-size images of different vertical and horizontal lengths in one print job, the same free-size paper may be fed for the irregular-size image. In order to prevent such a situation, once a free-size sheet is fed to an irregular-size image, the CPU 202 performs control so that the free-size sheet is not fed to another irregular-size image.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining a second example of the operation when the irregularly sized paper is automatically selected and fed in the image forming apparatus 100 shown in FIG.

  1, 2, and 9, the flow shown in FIG. 7 is executed for each page of image data input to image forming apparatus 100. In the automatic paper size selection of the irregular size, the CPU 202 recognizes that the next image to be printed is an irregular size (step S901). Subsequently, the CPU 202 sets a paper feed stage to be subjected to automatic paper selection set in the paper feed setting screen (FIG. 6) for a paper of an irregular size having the same vertical and horizontal length as the irregular size. Search is performed (step S902).

  If there is no paper feed stage in which irregular-size paper sheets having the same vertical and horizontal lengths are stored (NO in step S902), the CPU 202 advances the process to step S903. In step S903, the CPU 202 checks whether or not a free-size sheet has already been fed from the manual feed tray 160 in the print job, and there is an irregular-size sheet different from the irregular-size sheet to be fed. Determine whether or not.

  If there is no non-standard size paper that is different from the non-standard size paper to be fed (NO in step S903), the CPU 202 determines whether the manual paper feed stage 160 is set as an automatic paper selection target. Is determined (step S904).

  If the manual paper feed stage 160 is set as an automatic paper selection target (YES in step S904), the CPU 202 determines whether or not the paper set in the manual paper feed stage 160 is a free size (step S905). . If the paper set in the manual paper feed stage 160 is a free size (YES in step S905), the CPU 202 controls the printer unit 170 to feed the free size paper from the manual paper feed stage 160 (step S905). Step S906).

  Thereafter, the CPU 202 stores the irregular-size paper fed in step S906 and the paper feed stage in the HDD 203 (step S907), and ends the processing for one page.

  In step S902, if there is a paper feed stage in which irregular-size paper sheets having the same vertical and horizontal lengths are stored (YES in step S902), the CPU 202 advances the process to step S908. In step S <b> 908, the CPU 202 controls the printer unit 170 to feed user-defined size paper from the paper feed stage. Then, the CPU 202 proceeds to step S906, stores the user-defined size paper fed in step 908 and the paper feed tray in the HDD 203, and ends the processing for one page.

  In step S903, if there is a non-standard size paper that is different from the non-standard size paper to be fed (YES in step S903), the CPU 202 advances the process to step S909. In step S <b> 909, the CPU 202 displays a screen indicating that there is no optimal paper size (screen with no optimal size) on the liquid crystal panel of the operation unit 205, and ends the processing for one page. Note that an optimal user-defined size is displayed on the screen with no optimal size.

  In step S904, if the manual paper feed stage 160 is not set as a paper feed stage to be automatically selected (NO in step S904), the CPU 202 advances the process to step S708. In step S <b> 708, the CPU 202 proceeds to step S <b> 909 to display a screen with no optimal size on the liquid crystal panel of the operation unit 205 and ends the processing for one page.

  If the paper set in the manual paper feed stage 160 is not a free size in step S905 (NO in step S905), the CPU 202 advances the process to step S909. In step S <b> 909, the CPU 202 displays a screen with no optimal size on the liquid crystal panel of the operation unit 205 and ends the processing for one page.

  As described above, in the flow described with reference to FIG. 9, the same free size paper is not fed to the irregular size images in one print job by the processing described in step S <b> 903. Can do.

  In the flow described with reference to FIG. 9 as well, the designated irregular size and the supplied irregular size paper, the paper feed stage, and the HDD 203 are stored. Accordingly, if there are irregular sizes having the same vertical and horizontal lengths in the same print job, the CPU 202 may feed paper from the same paper feed stage, and the flow shown in FIG. The part can be omitted.

  In the first and second examples described above, the color mode of the image is not particularly mentioned. However, considering that the color image has a high possibility of toner scattering when the free size paper feeding is performed, the color image is converted into a monochrome image. Only the process described in the first or second example may be performed. In this case, with respect to a color image, automatic paper selection is performed only from a paper feed stage designated by a user-defined size.

  As described above, in the first and second embodiments, not only a user-defined size sheet can be automatically fed for a print job in which an irregular-size sheet is designated, Automatic feeding by free size can also be performed. Accordingly, it is possible to feed a sheet having an optimum size for irregular-size image data while reducing the complexity of specifying the sheet size by the user.

  Furthermore, in the first and second embodiments, when printing is performed by switching the paper feed stage according to the presence or absence of paper, the paper of the optimum size is fed with respect to the image data of the irregular size. In addition, when a free-size sheet is being fed, a notification is made when the sheet runs out, so that the sheet feed stage is not switched even if a user-defined size sheet exists. As a result, the paper size does not change during one print job.

  As is apparent from the above description, the operation unit 205 and the CPU 202 function as a first size designation unit, a second size designation unit, a third size designation unit, and a paper feed control unit.

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated based on embodiment, this invention is not limited to these embodiment, Various forms of the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention are also contained in this invention. .

  For example, the functions of the above-described embodiments may be used as a paper feed control method, and this paper feed control method may be executed by the image forming apparatus. Further, a program having the functions of the above-described embodiments may be used as a paper feed control program, and this paper feed control program may be executed by a computer included in the image forming apparatus. At this time, the paper feed control method and the paper feed control program have at least a first size designation step, a second size designation step, a third size designation step, and a paper feed control step.

  The present invention can also be realized by executing the following processing. That is, software (program) for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus via a network or various recording media, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, etc.) of the system or apparatus reads the program. It is a process to be executed.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Image forming apparatus 160 Manual paper feed stage 125-127 Cassette deck 150 Reader part 170 Printer part 201 Control part 202 CPU
205 Operation unit 208 Host computer

Claims (9)

A printing apparatus comprising a plurality of sheet holding means for holding sheets of a standard size or a non-standard size,
A first setting unit that sets a user-defined size indicating the vertical and horizontal lengths for at least one of the plurality of sheet holding units when the vertical and horizontal lengths are input by the user;
Second setting means for setting, to at least one of the plurality of sheet holding means, a free size indicating that the vertical and horizontal lengths are not specified when the vertical and horizontal lengths are not input by the user When,
The first setting means in the selected sheet holding means when a sheet shortage occurs after starting printing using a sheet fed from the selected sheet holding means among the plurality of sheet holding means. Allows the user-defined size indicating the same vertical and horizontal length to be switched to the other sheet holding means set by the first setting means to continue printing. And a control means for controlling not to allow switching to another sheet holding means to continue printing if a free size is set by the second setting means in the selected sheet holding means;
A printing apparatus comprising: 2. The printing according to claim 1 , wherein if the standard size is set in the selected sheet holding unit, the control unit allows switching to another sheet holding unit to continue printing. apparatus. The control means has a user-defined size indicating the same vertical and horizontal lengths as the first setting means even if a user-defined size is set to the selected sheet holding means by the first setting means. 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein if there is no other sheet holding unit set by the step, it is not permitted to switch to another sheet holding unit and continue printing. Said sheet holding means by a user-defined size is set by the first setting means, the printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it comprises a sheet storage cassette. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the sheet holding unit in which a free size is set by the second setting unit includes a manual feed tray. First detection means for detecting the vertical length of the sheet held by the sheet holding means based on the position of the guide provided in the sheet holding means for which the free size is set by the second setting means. printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that it comprises. Second detection means for detecting the lateral length of the sheet held by the sheet holding means based on the conveyance time of the sheet fed from the sheet holding means for which the free size is set by the second setting means printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a. A control method for a printing apparatus comprising a plurality of sheet holding means for holding sheets of a regular size or a non-standard size,
A first setting step of setting a user-defined size indicating the vertical and horizontal lengths for at least one of the plurality of sheet holding means when the vertical and horizontal lengths are input by the user;
A second setting step of setting a free size indicating that the vertical and horizontal lengths are not specified for at least one of the plurality of sheet holding means when the vertical and horizontal lengths are not input by the user. When,
The first setting step in the selected sheet holding means when the sheet shortage occurs after starting printing using the sheet fed from the selected sheet holding means among the plurality of sheet holding means. If the user-defined size is set in step 1, the user-defined size indicating the same vertical and horizontal lengths can be switched to the other sheet holding means set in the first setting step and printing can be continued. A control step for controlling not to allow switching to another sheet holding unit to continue printing if a free size is set in the second setting step in the selected sheet holding unit;
A control method for a printing apparatus, comprising: A program for causing a computer to execute the method for controlling a printing apparatus according to claim 8 .

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