JP6199816B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.

  An image forming apparatus installed in a convenience store or the like is used by an unspecified user.

  When an unspecified user uses the image forming apparatus, the user can use the image forming apparatus after inserting the money into a coin vendor connected to the image forming apparatus, and the user can use the image forming apparatus. The corresponding billing amount is withdrawn from the first money entered.

  In an image forming apparatus having such a charging function, when the user is not satisfied with the printed material on which the original image is printed by the image forming apparatus, the image of the printed material is read and the image of the printed material is deteriorated with respect to the original image. If it is determined that the payment is made, a refund is made (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2009-93459 A

  In the above-described apparatus, if the user is not satisfied with the printed matter, the user gives a refund. However, the user cannot obtain the printed matter that the user is satisfied with.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to obtain an image forming apparatus that makes it easy to obtain a printed matter that a user is satisfied with.

An image forming apparatus according to the present invention is based on an image reading device that reads an image of a document and an image of a printed material, a printing device that outputs the printed material on which the image of the document is printed, an image of the printed material, and an image of the document And determining whether or not to reprint the original image, and when executing the reprinting, the printed apparatus reprints the original image and reprints the original image. A printing control unit for outputting the printing apparatus. The printing control unit adds a visible or invisible first mark to the image of the document at the first printing, and the visible or invisible different from the first mark at the second printing. Is added to the image of the original, and when it is determined that the image of the printed matter is not valid according to a predetermined condition based on the image of the printed matter and the image of the original, the second image is added to the image of the printed matter. When there is a mark, refund processing is performed without executing the reprinting, and when the first mark is present in the image of the printed matter, the reprinting is executed.

  According to the present invention, in an image forming apparatus that is used by an unspecified user and has a charging function, it is easy to obtain a printed matter that satisfies the user.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1 FIG.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. An image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 is a copier or a multifunction machine, and is connected to a coin vendor 2, and further includes an image reading device 11, a printing device 12, a user operation unit 13, an image processing unit 14, and data. A storage unit 15, a print control unit 16, and a charge control unit 17 are included.

  The image reading device 11 optically reads an image of a document or printed matter and outputs image data of the read image.

  The printing device 12 prints an image based on the image data on printing paper to generate a printed matter and outputs it.

  The user operation unit 13 is, for example, an operation panel, and includes a display device such as a liquid crystal display and an input device such as a touch panel. The display device displays various messages and operation screens to the user. Detect user actions on.

  The image processing unit 14 performs various image processing on the image data generated by the image reading device 11. That is, the image processing unit 14 appropriately performs image processing on the document image.

  The data storage unit 15 is, for example, a hard disk drive, and temporarily stores image data generated by the image reading device 11, image data after image processing by the image processing unit 14, and the like.

  The print control unit 16 controls the image reading device 11, the printing device 12, the user operation unit 13, the image processing unit 14, the data storage unit 15, and the charging control unit 17 to execute various processes. In particular, the print control unit 16 determines whether to reprint the original image based on the image of the original printed matter read by the image reading device 11 and the original original image, and executes the reprint. In this case, the printing apparatus 12 is caused to execute printing of the original image again, and the printed apparatus 12 is caused to output a printed matter obtained by reprinting the original image.

  In addition, when the print control unit 16 determines that the printed image is not appropriate according to a predetermined condition based on the original printed image and the original original image, the print controller 16 reprints the original image based on a user operation. And choose between refund processing.

  The charging control unit 17 controls the coin vendor 2 based on a command from the print control unit 16 to perform charging processing (deduction from the balance of the input amount in the coin vendor 2) and refund processing (balance of the input amount in the coin vendor 2). Add).

  Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment.

  When the coin vendor 2 accepts the insertion of money by the user, the print control unit 16 of the image forming apparatus 1 detects the insertion of money via the charging control unit 17 and puts the user operation unit 13 in a state where the user operation can be accepted. (Step S1).

  Thereafter, the user sets the document on the document table or the like, inputs print settings to the user operation unit 13, and presses a start button on the user operation unit 13. At this time, the print control unit 16 receives print settings from the user operation unit 13 (step S2), and when the user operation unit 13 detects pressing of the start button (step S3), causes the image reading apparatus 11 to perform image scanning. . At this time, since the document is set on the image reading device 11, the image reading device 11 reads the image of the document and outputs the image data of the image of the document (step S4). The print control unit 16 stores the image data in the data storage unit 15 (step S5).

  The print control unit 16 edits the image data and adds a predetermined mark to the document image. This mark may be a visible mark or an invisible mark such as an electronic watermark (step S6).

  Next, the print control unit 16 performs color correction, color conversion, resolution conversion, and the like in the image processing unit 14, generates print image data from the image data (step S7), and generates an image based on the print image data. Printing is executed by the printing apparatus 12 (step S8). Thereby, a printed material of the original is generated. When the output of the printed matter is completed, the print control unit 16 causes the charging control unit 17 to execute charging processing (step S9).

  The user confirms the output printed matter and determines that the printed matter is not satisfactory (step S10), sets the printed matter on the document table, and presses the return button in the user operation unit 13. The print control unit 16 detects pressing of the return button at the user operation unit 13 (step S11).

  If the pressing of the return button is not detected for a predetermined time, it is determined that the user is satisfied with the printed matter that has been output, and the printing process for this document ends.

  When the pressing of the return button is detected, the print control unit 16 causes the image reading apparatus 11 to execute image scanning. At this time, since the above-described printed material is set in the image reading device 11, the image reading device 11 reads the image of the printed material and outputs the image data of the image of the printed material (step S12). The print control unit 16 stores the image data in the data storage unit 15 (step S13).

  Then, the print control unit 16 determines whether or not the above-described mark exists in the image of the printed material based on the image data of the printed material (step S14).

  If the printed image does not have the above-described mark, the print control unit 16 ends the printing process. If the image read when the return button is pressed is an image of the above-mentioned document printed, it has the above-mentioned mark, so that another printed material can be used maliciously without recharging the document. It can be prevented from being executed.

  On the other hand, when the printed image has the above-described mark, the print control unit 16 compares the original image with the printed image (step S15). At this time, a positional deviation, a density deviation, or the like between the original image and the printed image is detected.

  Then, the print control unit 16 determines whether or not the image of the printed material is valid based on the comparison result (step S16), and when it is determined that the image of the printed material is valid, the print processing is terminated. To do.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the image of the printed material is not valid, the print control unit 16 causes the user operation unit 13 to display a selection screen for allowing the user to select one of refund and reprint, and the user reprints. Is determined (step S17).

  When the user selects reprinting, the print control unit 16 adds the above-described mark to the original image, analyzes the original image and the printed image (step S18), and eliminates positional deviation, density deviation, and the like. After the image processing is adjusted as described above, the image processing unit 14 is caused to regenerate the print image data (step S19).

  The print control unit 16 causes the printing apparatus 12 to reprint an image based on the printing image data (step S20). In this case as well, a predetermined mark is added to the image of the document and reprinting is performed. The predetermined mark here may be the same as the above-mentioned predetermined mark, and the number of times of printed matter. It may be a predetermined mark to which information indicative of Note that the charging process is not executed during reprinting. Then, when the user confirms the output printed matter and determines that the printed matter cannot be satisfied, the user can repeat the processes after step S10 No. again. At this time, the original image, the first printed image, the second printed image (reprinted image), the n-th printed image are identified by identifying the number of printed products from the read predetermined mark or the like. Each of the images of the printed matter is analyzed, the image processing is readjusted so that the positional deviation, the density deviation, and the like are eliminated, and then the printing image data is regenerated in the image processing unit 14, and the regenerated printing image is generated. Reprinting is performed based on the data. In step S16, if it is determined that the image of the printed material is not valid for a predetermined number of times, a refund process is performed in step S21, a process such as reporting to a service person is performed, and this flowchart is terminated. Also good.

  On the other hand, when the user selects refund in step S17 (that is, when the user does not select reprinting), the print control unit 16 causes the charge control unit 17 to execute refund processing (step S21).

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, in the image forming apparatus 1, the print control unit 16 reprints the original image based on the printed image and the original image on which the read original image is printed. In the case of executing reprinting, the printing apparatus 12 is caused to print the original image again, and the printing apparatus 12 is caused to output a printed matter obtained by reprinting the original image.

  Thereby, when the user is not satisfied with the printed matter, the user can execute reprinting without refunding, and it is expected that the user can obtain a satisfactory printed matter by reprinting. Therefore, in an image forming apparatus that is used by an unspecified user and has a charging function, it is easy to obtain a printed matter that satisfies the user.

Embodiment 2. FIG.

  The image forming apparatus according to Embodiment 2 limits the above-described reprinting to one time. The configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment (FIG. 1), but operates as described below.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment.

  In the second embodiment, the print control unit 16 adds a visible or invisible first mark to the image of the document at the time of the first printing (step S6), and at the time of the second printing (that is, re-printing). At the time of printing, a visible or invisible second mark different from the first mark is added to the image of the document to regenerate the printing image data (steps S31 and S32).

  Then, the print control unit 16 has the first mark or the second mark in the read printed image (step S33), and the printed image is valid according to predetermined conditions based on the printed image and the original image. If it is determined that it is not (step S16), if there is a second mark in the image of the printed material (that is, if the printed material is generated by reprinting, step S34), refund processing is performed without executing reprinting. When (step S21) is performed and the first mark is present in the image of the printed material (that is, when the printed material is generated by the first printing, step S34), reprinting can be executed (steps S18, S31, S32). ).

  Each embodiment described above is a preferred example of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to these, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. It is.

  For example, in the first and second embodiments, using the reference chart as a document, the print control unit 16 performs density and gradation calibration so that the image of the printed matter matches the image of the document. 14 may be executed.

  Further, in the first embodiment, instead of using the mark, all the document images read after inserting the money are stored, and the image of the printed matter does not match any document image within a predetermined difference range. In some cases, reprinting and refunding may not be performed.

  The present invention is applicable to, for example, an image forming apparatus that is used by an unspecified user and has a charging function.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 11 Image reading apparatus 12 Printing apparatus 16 Print control part

Claims (2)

An image reading device for reading an image of a document and an image of a printed material;
A printing apparatus that outputs the printed matter on which the image of the original is printed;
Based on the image of the printed matter and the image of the document, it is determined whether or not to reprint the image of the document, and when the reprint is performed, the printing of the image of the document is performed again on the printing apparatus. A print control unit that causes the printing apparatus to output a printed matter obtained by reprinting the image of the original;
Equipped with a,
The printing control unit adds a visible or invisible first mark to the image of the document at the first printing, and a visible or invisible first mark different from the first mark at the second printing. 2 marks are added to the image of the original, and when it is determined that the image of the printed matter is not valid according to a predetermined condition based on the image of the printed matter and the image of the original, the second mark is added to the image of the printed matter. When there is, the refund process is performed without executing the reprint, and when the first mark is in the image of the printed matter, the reprint is executed.
An image forming apparatus.   When the print control unit determines that the image of the printed material is not valid according to a predetermined condition based on the image of the printed material and the image of the original, reprinting and refunding the image of the original based on a user operation 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of the processes is selected.

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