JP6084939B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to control of an engine (hereinafter referred to as “print engine”) that prints an image of a document on paper in an image forming apparatus.

An image forming apparatus which is an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral) such as a printer, a multifunction printer, a multifunction peripheral device, or a multifunction peripheral removes a sheet from the sheet cassette and stops the sheet by a registration roller, thereby removing the sheet from the sheet cassette. The sheet feeding operation up to the registration roller position (hereinafter referred to as “primary sheet feeding”) and the sheet feeding operation for printing an image from the registration roller position (hereinafter referred to as “secondary sheet feeding”) are divided. By stopping the paper by the registration roller in this way, the setup of the print engine for printing the image on the paper after the primary paper feeding is executed, and the secondary paper feeding is executed after the setup of the print engine is completed. it can. Further, such an image forming apparatus that stops the sheet at the registration roller position creates setup information for performing necessary setup for the print engine after the primary sheet feeding, and sets up the print engine based on the setup information. Execute.
When the setup of the print engine is completed, the image forming apparatus performs secondary paper feeding, and prints an original image on paper. In this way, by setting up the necessary print engine after the primary paper feed, the first copy of the original (hereinafter referred to as “first copy”) under a predetermined condition when the original is printed. Time can be shortened.
In the image forming apparatus and the image forming program disclosed in Patent Document 1, when a print job is received, primary feed start control of the print engine is performed. Next, a print image of a print job is formed and output to a print engine (print engine) for transferring and fixing the print image, and secondary paper start control is performed. In this way, the print engine setup executed by outputting the print image to the print engine is performed together with the secondary paper feed, thereby shortening the printing time of the printer function.

JP 2008-9216 A

  However, for the purpose of reducing the cost of the image forming apparatus, the registration roller motor is omitted, and in the image forming apparatus in which the paper does not stop at the registration roller position even if the roller exists at the conventional registration roller position, the primary paper feeding Since the secondary paper feed operates continuously, the print engine setup cannot be executed between the primary paper feed and the secondary paper feed. For this reason, in the image forming apparatus in which the sheet does not stop at the registration roller position, there is a problem that the first copy time cannot be shortened.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and an object thereof is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of solving the above-described problems.

An image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes an operation unit, a document reading unit, a storage unit, a control unit, a conveyance unit,
An image forming apparatus comprising: a photosensitive drum, a charging unit, an exposure unit, an image forming unit, a transfer unit, a fixing unit, and a recording unit having a cleaning unit , wherein the control unit further includes the image forming apparatus includes a print engine control unit for controlling the operation of the print engine provided in, and a print execution processing unit for executing a printing operation, the transport unit further comprises feed roller, registration position rollers, and discharge rollers, The registration position roller is controlled together with the sheet feeding roller by a motor that drives the sheet feeding roller by being directly connected to the sheet feeding roller, and does not have a registration function that regulates sheet feeding timing. (1) Print setting information input via the operation unit, paper feed size held by the storage unit, and read by the document reading unit Generating paper source information as warm-up information from at least one of the original size and the paper size of the paper cassette automatically selected based on the original size, (2) the print setting information, and The discharge destination information that is the warm-up information is created from at least one of the discharge destinations held by the storage unit, and (3) the warm-up information from at least one of the color mode of the print setting information and the image data. create a blank information and color information, the print engine control unit, before the sheet feeding, based on the warm-up information that has been notified to the print engine is generated by the control unit, the recording unit and the the conveyance unit set up, not directly matter setup of the recording portion and the conveying unit, the post-processing information, the count-up Distribution, and billing information, the notified to the print engine after notification warm-up information, is characterized in Rukoto first copy is performed by the print execution processing unit.
Further , the post-processing information of the image forming apparatus of the present invention is at least one of information on the presence / absence of post-processing, the type of post-processing, and whether or not to bundle a sheet, and the count-up information is counted up. The billing information is unit price information for each sheet .

  The present invention provides an image forming apparatus capable of increasing the first copy printing speed in a low-cost image forming apparatus in which a sheet does not stop at a registration roller position.

1 is an external perspective view of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an internal configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic control configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a printing procedure in first copy according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, modes for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as “embodiments”) will be described with reference to the drawings. An image forming apparatus 1 according to the embodiment is an image forming apparatus that forms an image such as a printer, a multifunction printer, a multifunction peripheral device, or a multifunction peripheral. Referring to FIG. A unit 3, a main body unit 4, and an operation unit 5 are provided. The document reading unit 2 is disposed on the top of the main body unit 4, and the document feeding unit 3 is disposed on the top of the document reading unit 2.

  In such an image forming apparatus 1, information (hereinafter referred to as “warm-up information”) for performing necessary warm-up for a print engine required for printing requested by the user before primary paper feeding is created. The first copy is executed by setting up the print engine based on the warm-up information. The warm-up information here is paper source information, discharge destination information, blank page information, color information, and the like. The paper source information is information such as a paper source (paper cassette, paper tray, or duplex tray), paper size, paper type, and the like. The discharge destination information is information on a discharge destination (such as a discharge tray, a mailbox, or an intermediate tray for duplex printing). The blank page information is information indicating whether or not blank page printing is performed. The color information is information about which toner color is used.

  On the front side of the image forming apparatus 1, an operation unit 5 for setting and operating instructions of the image forming apparatus 1 is disposed. The operation unit 5 is provided with a liquid crystal display unit 51 and operation buttons 52. The user operates the operation unit 5 to input an instruction, thereby performing various settings of the image forming apparatus 1 and executing various functions such as image formation. The liquid crystal display unit 51 displays the state of the image forming apparatus 1, displays the image forming status and the number of copies, and can be used as a touch panel to perform various settings such as functions such as double-sided printing and black-and-white reversal, magnification setting, and density setting. It has become. The operation buttons 52 include a start button for instructing start of image formation, a stop / clear button for instructing to stop image formation, a reset button used when various settings of the image forming apparatus 1 are set to a default state, a numeric keypad, and the like. Is provided.

  Referring to FIG. 2, the document reading unit 2 includes a scanner 21, a platen glass 22, and a document reading slit 23. The scanner 21 includes a light source 24 using an LED (Light Emitting Diode) and a light receiving unit 25 including a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) line sensor, a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) line sensor, and the like. The unit 3 is configured to be movable in the conveyance direction of the document MS (manuscript). The document reading slit 23 is a slit formed in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the document MS by the document feeding unit 3.

  The document feeding unit 3 includes a document placement unit 31, a document discharge unit 32, and a document transport mechanism 33. The document MS set on the document placement unit 31 is sequentially fed out one by one by the document transport mechanism 33, transported to a position facing the document reading slit 23, and then discharged to the document discharge unit 32. The document feeding unit 3 and the document reading unit 2 are connected to each other by a hinge mechanism on the back side of the image forming apparatus 1, and the document feeding unit 3 functions as a platen cover that opens and closes the upper surface of the platen glass 22. . By opening the document feeder 3 upward, the upper surface of the platen glass 22 is opened, and the document MS can be set on the platen glass 22.

  When reading of the document MS is instructed by the operation button 52 of the operation unit 5 in a state where the document MS is not set on the document placement unit 31 or in an opened state where the document feeding unit 3 (platen cover) is opened. A document MS set on the platen glass 22 is read. When reading the document MS placed on the platen glass 22, the scanner 21 is moved to a position facing the platen glass 22, and the document MS set on the platen glass 22 is moved in the sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction. The image data is obtained by scanning while scanning from the sub-scanning direction reference line B, and the obtained image data is output to the control unit 7 (FIG. 3) in the main body unit 4.

  When reading of the document MS is instructed by the operation button 52 of the operation unit 5 in a state where the document MS is set on the document placement unit 31, the document MS conveyed by the document feeding unit 3 is read. The document MS is set on the document placement unit 31 with the front surface (surface from which a document image is read) facing up. Then, the document MS set on the document placement unit 31 is conveyed from the left side by the document feeding unit 3, and the surface of the document MS is guided to a position facing the document reading slit 23. Further, when reading the document MS conveyed by the document feeding unit 3, the scanner 21 is moved to a position facing the document reading slit 23 and is synchronized with the conveying operation by the document feeding unit 3 via the document reading slit 23. Then, the original MS is read to acquire image data, and the acquired image data is output to the control unit 7 (FIG. 3) in the main body unit 4.

The main body unit 4 includes the recording unit 6, and includes a paper feeding unit 41, a paper feeding roller 42, a paper conveyance path 43, a registration position roller 44, and a discharge roller 45.
As described above, the registration roller is normally controlled by a driving means (not shown) such as a motor, but in this embodiment, the driving means is omitted. That is, the roller at the registration roller position of the present embodiment is referred to as a registration position roller 44 because it does not have a registration function that defines the timing of paper feed. For example, the registration position roller 44 is directly connected to the paper feed roller 42, and is controlled together with the paper feed roller 42 by a motor that drives the paper feed roller 42.
The paper feed unit 41 is a paper feed cassette that stores a plurality of sheets of paper P, and the paper feed roller 42 feeds the paper P from the paper feed unit 41 to the paper transport path 43 one by one. The paper P that has been fed to the paper transport path 43 by the paper feed roller 42 is transported to the recording unit 6 by the registration position roller 44. The registration position roller 44 conveys the paper P so that the leading edge of the paper P supplied from the paper feed cassette and the leading edge of the image read from the document are aligned. The paper P on which recording has been performed by the recording unit 6 is discharged by a discharge roller 45 into a discharge space 46 formed between the document reading unit 2 and the main body unit 4. As described above, the paper feed roller 42, the registration position roller 44, and the discharge roller 45 function as a conveyance unit for the paper P. Note that the paper feed unit 41 illustrated in FIG. 2 is illustrated as having a single paper feed cassette, but this is an example, and paper of different paper sizes can be set in the paper feed unit 41. A plurality of paper feed cassettes can be installed. In addition to the paper feed unit 41, another paper feed source can be provided. Also, another discharge destination can be installed in the discharge space 46.

  The recording unit 6 includes a photosensitive drum 61, a charging unit 62, an exposure unit 63, an image forming unit 64, a transfer unit 65, a fixing unit 66, and a cleaning unit 67. The exposure unit 63 is an optical unit including a laser device, a mirror, and the like. The exposure unit 63 outputs a laser beam based on image data to the photosensitive drum 61 uniformly charged by the charging unit 62 and exposes the photosensitive drum 61. An electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the drum 61. The image forming unit 64 is a developing unit that develops the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 61 using toner, and forms a toner image based on the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 61. The transfer unit 65 transfers the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 61 by the image forming unit 64 to the paper P. The fixing unit 66 heats the paper P on which the toner image is transferred by the transfer unit 65 to fix the toner image on the paper P. The toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 61 is removed by the cleaning unit 67.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic control configuration of the image forming apparatus 1. The above document reading unit 2, document feeding unit 3, conveyance unit (feed roller 42, registration position roller 44, discharge roller 45), operation unit 5, recording unit 6, storage unit 8, and communication unit 9 are controlled. It is connected to the unit 7 and its operation is controlled by the control unit 7. The control unit 7 includes a print engine control processing unit 71 and a print execution processing unit 72.

The control unit 7 is an information processing unit such as a microcomputer including a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like. The ROM stores a control program for controlling the operation of the image forming apparatus 1. The control unit 7 reads out a control program stored in the ROM and develops the control program in the RAM, thereby controlling the entire apparatus according to predetermined instruction information input from the operation unit 5.
The print engine control processing unit 71 performs operation control of the print engine included in the image forming apparatus 1 according to a command from the control unit 7.
The print execution processing unit 72 executes a printing operation according to a command from the control unit 7.

  The storage unit 8 is a storage unit such as a semiconductor memory or an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), and stores image data of the document MS read by the scanner 21 as well as various management information and setting information. .

  The communication unit 9 has a function of transmitting / receiving various data to / from a peripheral device 11 such as a PC (personal computer) and another image forming apparatus 1a via a network 10 such as a LAN. The communication unit 9 is configured to be connectable to the Internet 13 via the network 10 and the router 12. The communication unit 9 has a function of transmitting / receiving various data to / from various communication devices connected to the Internet 13.

  Next, the sheet P cannot be stopped at the position of the registration position roller 44 for primary sheet feeding (sheet feeding from the sheet feeding cassette to the registration position roller 44) and secondary sheet feeding (sheet feeding from the registration position roller 44). That is, a printing procedure in the first copy of the image forming apparatus 1 in which the primary paper feeding and the secondary paper feeding are continuously performed will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  The user sets the document MS on the document placement unit 31 of the document feeding unit 3, and reads the document size of the document MS read by the operation button 52 of the operation unit 5, the sheet size of the paper P to be printed, monochrome printing or color printing. Input setting information such as a color mode (hereinafter referred to as “print setting information”) to make a print request.

(Step S101)
First, the control unit 7 inputs print setting information set by the user from the operation unit 5.

(Step S102)
Next, the control unit 7 takes out the image data of the document MS read by the scanner 21 from the storage unit 8.

(Step S103)
Next, the control unit 7 print information input in step S101, the document size read by the document reading unit 2, the image data input in step S102, or various management information and settings stored in the storage unit 8. Based on the information, print engine warm-up information is created.
For example, the paper size and the paper type based on the paper size stored in the print setting information, the management information in the storage unit 8, or the read original size, or the paper cassette automatically selected based on the original size The paper source information that is warm-up information is created from the information. Further, discharge destination information that is warm-up information is created from the print setting information or information such as the discharge destination held in the management information of the storage unit 8. Also, blank information and color information of warm-up information are created from the color mode of the print setting information and the image data.
In the conventional image forming apparatus in which the paper stops at the registration roller position, after the primary paper feeding, for example, post-processing information (presence / absence of post-processing, type of post-processing, paper The print engine is also notified of information such as whether or not a bundle is to be discharged), count-up information (whether to count up), billing information (unit price information for each sheet, etc.).
On the other hand, in the image forming apparatus in which the sheet does not stop at the registration roller position of the present embodiment, the above information that is not directly related to the driving of the recording unit 6 and various rollers is notified after the notification of the warm-up information. You may let them. Thereby, by shortening the notification time of the warm-up information, the engine setup can be completed quickly and the first copy time can be further shortened.

(Step S104)
Next, the control unit 7 activates the print engine control processing unit 71.

(Step S105)
Next, the print engine control processing unit 71 starts setup of the print engine based on the warm-up information. For example, operation control for driving the engines of the paper feed unit 41 and the paper feed roller 42 corresponding to the paper feed source information of the warm-up information is performed. Further, operation control for driving the engine of the discharge roller 45 corresponding to the discharge destination information of the warm-up information is performed. Further, operation control is performed to set the temperature of the fixing unit 66 according to the paper size of the paper P set in the paper feeding unit 41. Further, control for setting a developing bias of the image forming unit 64 is performed based on the blank information and color information of the warm-up information.

(Step S106)
Next, the control unit 7 detects the completion of the print engine setup from the print engine control processing unit 71.

(Step S107)
Next, the control unit 7 activates the print execution processing unit 72.

(Step S108)
Next, the print execution processing unit 72 takes out the paper P from the paper feed unit 41 based on the print setting information input in step S101, the transfer unit 65 transfers the toner image onto the paper P, and the fixing unit 66 uses the paper P. Is heated to fix the toner image on the paper P.

(Step S109)
Next, the control unit 7 discharges the paper P on which the toner is fixed to the discharge space 46 by the discharge roller 45.

  As described above, in the image forming apparatus 1 in which the paper does not stop at the registration roller position, the print engine is set up based on the warm-up information, and the paper is fed when the print engine setup is completed. In this way, since the setup of the print engine that performs the operations necessary for printing is completed before paper feeding, even when the paper does not stop at the registration roller position, the first copy time can be shortened.

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated by specific embodiment, it cannot be overemphasized that the said embodiment is an illustration of this invention and is not limited to this embodiment.

  The image forming apparatus can be applied to any printable apparatus in general.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image forming apparatus 1a ... Image forming apparatus 2 ... Document reading part 3 ... Document feeding part 4 ... Body part 5 ... Operation unit 6 ... Recording unit 7 ... Control unit 8 ... Storage unit 9 ... Communication unit 10 ... Network 11 ... Peripheral device 12 ...... Router 13 ... Internet 21 ... Scanner 22 ... Platen glass 23 ... Original reading slit 24 ... Light source 25 ... Light receiving unit 31... Document placement unit 32... Document discharge unit 33... Document transport mechanism 41. ··············································································································································· Registration roller 45. ······················· 52 ······························································································· 65... Transfer section 66... Fixing section 67... Cleaning section 71... Print engine control processing section 72.

Claims (2)

An operation unit, a document reading unit, a storage unit, a control unit, a transport unit,
An image forming apparatus comprising a photosensitive drum, a charging unit, an exposure unit, an image forming unit, a transfer unit, a fixing unit, and a recording unit having a cleaning unit ,
The control unit further includes a print engine control processing unit that controls an operation of a print engine included in the image forming apparatus, and a print execution processing unit that executes a printing operation .
The transport unit further includes a paper feed roller, a registration position roller, and a discharge roller, and the registration position roller is coupled with the paper feed roller by a motor that drives the paper feed roller by being directly connected to the paper feed roller. It is controlled and does not have a registration function that regulates the timing of paper feed.
The controller is
(1) Automatically selected based on the print setting information input via the operation unit, the paper feed size held by the storage unit, the document size read by the document reading unit, and the document size Create paper source information that is warm-up information from at least one of the paper sizes in the paper cassette.
(2) generating discharge destination information that is the warm-up information from at least one of the print setting information and the discharge destination held by the storage unit;
(3) Create blank page information and color information as the warm-up information from at least one of the color mode of the print setting information and image data;
The print engine control unit, before the sheet feeding, based on the warm-up information that has been notified to the print engine is generated by the controller, to set up the recording unit and the conveying unit, the recording unit Post-processing information, count-up information, and billing information that are not directly related to the setup of the transport unit are notified to the print engine after the notification of the warm-up information, and the first copy is made by the print execution processing unit. an image forming apparatus comprising Rukoto executed. The post-processing information is at least one of the presence / absence of post-processing, the type of post-processing, and whether or not to bundle a sheet, and the count-up information is information about whether or not to count up, The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the billing information is unit price information for each sheet .

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