JP6402987B2 - Image forming apparatus and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a program.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a printing apparatus, a print control method, and a computer program that perform interrupt printing of a next job during post-processing of a preceding job and reduce the time required to obtain a post-processed printed matter. ing.

JP 2009-160849 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus and a program capable of selecting a print instruction for image data during post-processing of a recording medium printed using image data.

[Image forming apparatus]
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus main body that forms an image on a recording medium, a post-processing apparatus that performs post-processing on a recording medium on which an image is formed by the image forming apparatus main body, and the post-processing When there is image data accepted by the image forming apparatus main body while post-processing is performed by the processing device, a display means for displaying that the image data has been accepted and the display means And an accepting unit that accepts an image formation instruction for the image data.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, the display unit further displays a post-processing time until the post-processing is completed.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, the display unit further displays a post-processing time until the next post-processing can be executed.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the display means further displays an expected image forming time until image formation of the image data is completed. is there.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided division receiving means for receiving an instruction to form an image by dividing the image data when the expected image formation time is longer than the post-processing time. The image forming apparatus according to any one of 1 to 5.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus main body and the post-processing apparatus have a plurality of discharge means for discharging a recording medium, and can be used among image data received by the image forming apparatus main body. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the discharge unit is controlled to display the selected image data on the display unit.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, when the post-processing apparatus has a plurality of discharge means for discharging a recording medium subjected to post-processing, and the image receiving instruction for the image data is received by the receiving means, the image The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a discharge destination changing unit that can select a change of the discharge unit that discharges a recording medium on which an image is formed using data.

[Image formation program]
The present invention according to claim 8 is an image forming step for forming an image on a recording medium, a post-processing step for performing post-processing on the recording medium on which an image has been formed by the image forming step, and other image formation A confirmation step for confirming the presence or absence of possible image data; and while performing post-processing by the post-processing step, if it is determined by the confirmation step that there is other recordable image data, the image data Is an image forming program for causing a computer to execute a display step for displaying that the image data has been received and a reception step for receiving an image formation instruction for the image data displayed in the display step.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of selecting a print instruction for image data during post-processing of a recording medium on which an image is formed.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of referring to the time required for post-processing of a recording medium on which an image is formed. it can.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the invention, an image forming apparatus capable of referring to the time required to start post-processing of a recording medium on which an image is formed is provided. be able to.

  According to the present invention of claim 4, in addition to the effects of the inventions of claims 1 to 3, an image forming apparatus capable of referring to the time required for image formation of image data can be provided.

  According to the present invention of claim 5, in addition to the effects of the inventions of claims 1 to 4, an image forming apparatus capable of avoiding the stagnation of image formation on a recording medium being post-processed is provided. can do.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the invention, an image forming apparatus capable of performing image formation of non-conflicting image data with a recording medium that is post-processing and a discharge destination without delay. Can be provided.

  According to the present invention of claim 7, in addition to the effects of the inventions of claims 1 to 3, it is possible to avoid discharge means that cannot be used temporarily during post-processing and to discharge to other discharge means. An image forming apparatus that can be used can be provided.

  According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming program capable of selecting a print instruction for image data during post-processing of a recording medium on which an image is formed.

1 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of an input device 11 used in the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a bookbinding apparatus 20 used in an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure showing hardware constitutions of terminal unit 30 in an image forming system of one embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating processing in the image forming system when performing interrupt printing according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a discharge destination of a sheet on which an image is formed by the image forming apparatus and the bookbinding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen of the input device 11 when an interrupt print job is selected according to an embodiment of the present invention. 6 is another flowchart illustrating processing in the image forming system when interrupt printing is performed in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen of the input device 11 when an interrupt print job is selected in the flowchart processing illustrated in FIG. 8. 6 is another flowchart illustrating processing in the image forming system when interrupt printing is performed in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen of the input device 11 when an interrupt print job is selected in the flowchart processing illustrated in FIG. 10.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, each embodiment described below exemplifies an image forming apparatus and a program for embodying the technical idea of the present invention, and is not intended to specify the present invention. It is equally applicable to those of other embodiments within the scope of the claims.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, an image forming system using a document processing program according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an image forming apparatus 10, a bookbinding apparatus 20, and a terminal apparatus 30 connected to each other via a network 40. The The terminal device 30 generates print data and transmits the print data generated via the network 40 to the image forming apparatus 10. The image forming apparatus 10 receives the print job transmitted from the terminal device 30 and outputs an image corresponding to the print data on a sheet. The image forming apparatus 10 is an apparatus called a so-called multi-function machine having a plurality of functions such as a print function, a scan function, a copy function, and a facsimile function. The bookbinding apparatus 20 is a so-called case binding machine that performs case binding by wrapping a text sheet using a cover sheet printed by the image forming apparatus 10 and binding the book into a single book.

  The image forming apparatus 10 has an interrupt printing function for printing other print data while post-processing is performed by the bookbinding apparatus 20 described later on the print data that has been printed.

  The image forming apparatus 10 includes an input device 11 that can select print data for interrupt printing. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the input device 11.

  As illustrated in FIG. 2, the input device 11 according to the present embodiment includes a control unit 41, a display unit 42, a communication unit 43, an input reception unit 44, a job reception unit 45, a document management unit 46, It has.

  The control unit 41 performs display on the display unit 42, communication by the communication unit 43, control of the input reception unit 44, job reception unit 45, document management unit 45, rasterization of print data, and the like.

  The display unit 42 displays information necessary for selecting print data for interrupt printing to the user. For example, the post-processing remaining time until the post-processing of the print data currently being post-processed is completed, the expected print time that is the time required until the printing of the print data to be interrupted is completed, and the like.

  The communication unit 43 receives print data and the like from the terminal device 30 and transmits a print instruction to the image forming apparatus 10.

  The input reception unit 44 receives selection of print data for performing interrupt printing by the user. In the present embodiment, selection of print data for performing interrupt printing is accepted by pressing an interrupt print button displayed on the display unit 42.

  The job receiving unit 45 receives print data transmitted from the terminal device 30 by the communication unit 43 and stores the print data in the document management unit 46.

  When interrupt print data for interrupt printing is selected by the input device 11 and interrupt printing is instructed, interrupt printing is performed based on the print data stored in the document management unit 46.

  FIG. 3 shows an internal configuration of the bookbinding apparatus 20 in the image forming system of this embodiment. The bookbinding device 20 is a device that performs case binding, and includes a bookbinding cover tray 21, a bookbinding text tray 22, a gluing unit 23, a cutting unit 24, and a stacking tray 25.

  The bookbinding cover tray 21 is a tray on which a cover sheet printed by the image forming apparatus 10 or the like is placed, and the bookbinding text tray 22 is a tray on which the document main body paper printed by the image forming apparatus 10 is placed.

  Cover sheets and text sheets are placed on the case binding cover tray 21 and the case binding text tray 22, respectively, and a signal from the terminal device 30 is transmitted or a start button (not shown) attached to the book binding apparatus 20 is pressed. As a result, case binding is started. First, the cover placed on the bookbinding cover tray 21 is sent to the gluing unit 23 in the bookbinding apparatus, and the document body paper placed on the bookbinding text tray 22 is sent to the position where it becomes the back cover of the cover. And glued.

  After that, the glued and integrated cover and document body paper group are sent to the cutting unit 24, where the margins provided in directions other than the back cover direction are cut, and the bound book is loaded on the stacking tray 25. The bookbinding is completed.

  Next, FIG. 4 shows a hardware configuration of the terminal device 30 in the image forming system of the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the terminal device 30 includes a CPU 31, a memory 32, a storage device 33 such as a hard disk drive (HDD), a communication interface that transmits and receives data to and from the image forming apparatus 10 and the bookbinding apparatus 20. (IF) 34. These components are connected to each other via a control bus 35.

  The CPU 31 controls the operation of the terminal device 30 by executing predetermined processing based on a control program stored in the memory 32 or the storage device 33.

  In the present embodiment, the CPU 31 has been described as reading and executing a control program stored in the memory 32 or the storage device 33. However, the CPU 31 stores the program in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM and stores it in the CPU 31. It is also possible to provide.

[Example 1]
The processing in the image forming apparatus in the case where interrupt printing of another job is performed during the print waiting time during post-processing in the first embodiment will be described using the flowchart of FIG.

  First, the image forming apparatus 10 starts printing the first copy of the first job, which is the print data transmitted from the terminal device 30 (step S101). Next, post-processing of the first copy of the first job whose printing has been completed in step S101 is started by the bookbinding apparatus 20 which is a post-processing apparatus (step S102).

  Here, the control unit 41 checks whether there is a printable interrupt job that is the first job and other print data (step S103). At this time, since the post-processing is performed by the bookbinding apparatus 20, the control unit 41 determines that printing of a print job in which a stacker existing behind the bookbinding apparatus 20 is a discharge destination is impossible. This is because the paper feeding along the path passing through the bookbinding apparatus 20 may not be performed during post-processing in the bookbinding apparatus 20.

FIG. 6 shows the discharge destination of the paper on which an image is formed by the image forming apparatus 10 and the bookbinding apparatus 20. In this embodiment, the sheet feeding device, the image forming apparatus 10, the stacker A, the bookbinding apparatus 20, and the stacker B are connected in this order. The image forming apparatus 10 has the stacker A as a discharge destination, and the bookbinding apparatus 20 has a stacker B as a discharge destination behind the bookbinding apparatus 20 in addition to the stacking tray 25 described above.

  If there is no printable interrupt job, it is checked whether there is a next part of the first job waiting for printing (step S104). If there is a next part of the first job, the process returns to the first step S101, and printing of the next part of the first job is started. If there is no first job waiting for printing, the process ends.

  If there is an interrupt job that can be printed in step S103, a dialog is displayed on the display screen of the input device 11 (step S105). On the display screen, only print jobs for which the stacker A existing before the bookbinding apparatus 20 is the discharge destination are displayed. If the next bookbinding process can be executed even while the bookbinding process is being performed by the bookbinding apparatus 20 or the paper can be fed along a path passing through the bookbinding apparatus, a print job to which the stacker A and the stacker B are discharged is sent. You may control to be displayed.

  FIG. 7 shows a display screen of the input device 11 when an interrupt print job is selected. On the display screen of the input device 11, an interrupt print instruction button for instructing an interrupt print is displayed for each of the print waiting job list capable of interrupt printing and the print waiting job.

  The user of the image forming apparatus 10 confirms the print waiting job list displayed on the display screen of the input device 11 and selects a job for performing interrupt printing (step S106).

  On the display screen of the input device 11, as shown in FIG. 7, the post-processing remaining time until the post-processing by the bookbinding device 20 is completed and the print waiting job until the printing by the image forming device 10 is completed. Expected print time is shown.

  The post-processing remaining time is calculated by adding all the gluing time, the case time, and the cutting time. As for the gluing time, the case time, and the cutting time, each time is measured in advance under various conditions for each of the bookbinding size, the number of texts, and the cutting method, and used as an estimated time by combining them. This remaining post-processing time is not only the time required for post-processing (bookbinding processing in the present embodiment) but also paper feed along a path that passes through a device that performs post-processing (bookbinding device 20 in this embodiment). It may be the time until it becomes available.

  As for the expected print time, if the rasterization is completed, the print completion time in the image forming apparatus 10 in the paper size, basis weight, presence / absence of double-sided printing, etc. is calculated and multiplied by the number of print pages of the job waiting for printing. That is the expected time. Since job 4 is currently being rasterized, the calculation of the expected print time has not been completed.

  In FIG. 7, job 4 is currently being rasterized, and printing cannot be started yet, so that the interrupt printing button cannot be pressed. In this embodiment, the job waiting for printing during rasterization cannot be selected for interrupt printing, but may be selected for interrupt printing. The user of the image forming apparatus 10 can determine whether interrupt printing is necessary with reference to the remaining post-processing time and the expected print time.

  When an interrupt job for performing interrupt printing is selected, interrupt printing of an interrupt job, which is another job, is performed during post-processing of the first job (step S107). When interrupt printing is completed, the process proceeds to step S104 described above.

  If no interrupt job for interrupt printing is selected in step S106, interrupt printing is not performed, and the process proceeds to step S104 described above.

[Example 2]
Next, processing in the image forming apparatus when interrupt printing of another job is performed during the print waiting time during post-processing in the second embodiment will be described using the flowchart of FIG. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected about the step similar to Example 1, and description is abbreviate | omitted.

  First, printing of the first copy of the first job is started in step S101, and then post-processing of the first copy of the first job for which printing has been completed is started in step S102. In step S103, the first job of the first job is started. Check if there are other printable jobs.

  In step S103, when there is a printable job other than the first job, the control unit 41 completes the remaining post-processing time until the post-processing by the bookbinding apparatus 20 is completed and the printing of the interrupt job by the image forming apparatus. Comparison is made with the expected print time until (step S1051).

  When the remaining post-processing time and the expected print time are compared, and the expected print time is longer than the remaining post-processing time, it is determined that the interrupt job division is valid, the interrupt job division printing is enabled, and the input device 11 is displayed on the display screen 11 (step S1052).

  On the other hand, if the expected print time is shorter than the remaining post-processing time, it is determined that the interrupt job division is invalid, the interrupt job division printing is invalidated, and a dialog is displayed on the display screen of the input device 11. (Step S1053).

  An example of the display screen of the input device 11 at this time is shown in FIG. FIG. 9A shows a state in which the remaining post-processing time of the first job that has been printed and currently undergoing post-processing is 5 minutes, and the expected print time of job 4, which is a print-waiting job, is 10:00. 9B shows a state in which the remaining post-processing time is also 5 minutes, and the expected print time of the job 5 that is a print waiting job is 3 minutes and 45 seconds.

  Since the estimated print time of job 4 is longer than the remaining post-processing time, the control unit 41 determines that interrupt job division is valid, and not only interrupt job interrupt printing but also interrupt job division printing is valid. Become. When divided printing is selected (step S106), interrupt printing for the job corresponding to the estimated print time divided by the remaining post-processing time is started (step S107). When interrupt printing is selected instead of divided printing (step S106), interrupt printing of job 4 is started as it is (step S107). At this time, since it takes longer to print the job 4 than the remaining post-processing time, it waits for printing of the next part of the first job.

  On the other hand, since the expected print time of job 5 is shorter than the remaining post-processing time, the control unit 41 determines that the divided print of the interrupt job is invalid, and the selection of the divided print of the interrupt job is invalid. If interrupt printing is selected (step S106), interrupt printing of job 3 is started as it is (step S107), and after interrupt printing is completed, the process proceeds to step S104.

[Example 3]
Next, processing in the image forming apparatus when interrupt printing of another job is performed during the print waiting time during post-processing in the third embodiment will be described using the flowchart of FIG. Note that the same steps as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

  First, printing of the first copy of the first job is started in step S101, and then post-processing of the first copy of the first job for which printing has been completed is started in step S102. In step S103, the first job of the first job is started. Check if there are other printable jobs.

  In the first exemplary embodiment, the print job in which the stacker located behind the bookbinding apparatus 20 is set as the discharge destination is determined to be unprintable by the control unit 41 and is not displayed. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, even a print job in which the stacker behind the bookbinding apparatus 20 is set as the discharge destination is displayed as an interrupt job selection dialog on the display screen of the input apparatus 11 (step S1054). ).

  FIG. 11A shows an example of the display screen of the input device 11 that is displaying the interrupt job selection dialog in this embodiment. In the job 6, the stacker B located behind the bookbinding apparatus 20 is set as the discharge destination, and printing cannot be started as it is. When interrupt printing for job 2 is selected (step S106), the control unit 41 determines whether it is necessary to change the discharge destination (step S1061).

  If it is determined in step S1061 that the discharge destination needs to be changed, a discharge destination selection dialog is displayed on the display screen of the input device 11 (step S1062). An example of the display screen of the input device 11 during display of the discharge destination selection dialog in this embodiment is shown in FIG. 11B. In the discharge destination selection dialog, only stackers that are in front of the bookbinding apparatus 20 are displayed as candidates. In this embodiment, it is a stacker A. Here, when the stacker A is selected and an interrupt printing instruction is issued (step S1063), interrupt printing is started (step S107). If it is determined in step S1063 that stacker A is not selected and an interrupt print instruction is not issued, the process proceeds to step S104.

  Although the case binding has been described in the present embodiment, not only case binding but also other bookbinding processing such as side stitch binding, saddle stitch binding, ring binding binding, and the like are performed by a series of operations. It is possible.

  The program of the present invention may be provided by being stored in a recording medium, or the program may be provided by communication means. In that case, for example, the above-described program may be regarded as an invention of a “computer-readable recording medium recording the program”.

  The “computer-readable recording medium on which a program is recorded” refers to a computer-readable recording medium on which a program is recorded, which is used for program installation, execution, program distribution, and the like.

  The recording medium is, for example, a digital versatile disc (DVD), which is a standard established by the DVD Forum, such as “DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM,” and DVD + RW. Standard “DVD + R, DVD + RW, etc.”, compact disc (CD), read-only memory (CD-ROM), CD recordable (CD-R), CD rewritable (CD-RW), Blu-ray disc ( Blu-ray (registered trademark) Disc), magneto-optical disk (MO), flexible disk (FD), magnetic tape, hard disk, read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable and rewritable read-only memory (EEPROM (registered trademark)) )), Flash memory, Random access memory (RAM) , It included an SD (Secure Digital) memory card, and the like.

  The program or a part of the program may be recorded on the recording medium for storage or distribution. Also, by communication, for example, a local area network (LAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a wide area network (WAN), a wired network used for the Internet, an intranet, an extranet, or a wireless communication It may be transmitted using a transmission medium such as a network or a combination of these, or may be carried on a carrier wave.

  Furthermore, the program may be a part of another program, or may be recorded on a recording medium together with a separate program. Moreover, it may be divided and recorded on a plurality of recording media. Further, it may be recorded in any manner as long as it can be restored, such as compression or encryption.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image forming apparatus 11 Input apparatus 20 Bookbinding apparatus 30 Terminal apparatus 40 Network

Claims (8)

An image forming apparatus main body for forming an image on a recording medium;
A post-processing device that performs post-processing on a recording medium on which an image is formed by the image forming apparatus main body;
Display means for displaying that the image data can be interrupted when there is image data received by the image forming apparatus main body while post-processing is being performed by the post-processing device;
Receiving means for receiving an image formation instruction of the image data displayed by the display means;
An interrupt printing execution unit that performs interrupt printing of the image data while performing post-processing by the post-processing device when an image forming instruction is received by the receiving unit;
An image forming apparatus.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display unit further displays a post-processing time until the post-processing is completed.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display unit further displays a post-processing time until the next post-processing can be executed. Wherein the display means further image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that displaying the expected image formation time until image formation of the image data is completed. If the estimated image forming time is longer than the rear processing time, the image of any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that a split accepting means for accepting to image formation instruction by dividing the image data Forming equipment. The image forming apparatus main body and the post-processing apparatus have a plurality of discharge means for discharging a recording medium,
2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is controlled to display, on the display unit, image data for which an available discharging unit is selected from among the image data received by the image forming apparatus main body. The image forming apparatus main body and the post-processing apparatus have a plurality of discharge means for discharging a recording medium,
When receiving an image forming instruction for the image data by the receiving unit, the receiving unit includes a discharge destination changing unit that can select a change of the discharging unit for discharging a recording medium on which an image is formed using the image data. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. An image forming step of forming an image on a recording medium;
A post-processing step of performing post-processing on the recording medium on which an image is formed by the image forming step;
A confirmation step for confirming the presence or absence of other image-formable image data;
While performing post-processing by the post-processing step, if it is determined by the confirmation step that there is other recordable image data, a display step for displaying that interrupt printing of the image data is possible When,
An accepting step of accepting an image forming instruction of the image data displayed by the displaying step;
An interrupt printing execution step for performing interrupt printing of the image data while performing post-processing by the post-processing device when an image forming instruction is received in the receiving step;
Forming program for causing a computer to execute.

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